Mixed Emotions
by Faded Galaxia
Summary: Girl gets shipped to Hogwarts after some family things in America. Girl meets creepy teacher, and starts having flashbacks. Girl meets boy with pretty green eyes. Boy is a tad bit angsty for her tastes, but girl still likes him...slightly AU...but fun!
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Hello everyone! Another story for me to begin but never finish…PSYCH!! I will finish them someday…I promise! Anywho, this one involves an OC in Hogwarts! Exciting, right? I'm excited…well, I hope you like it! On with the story!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything but my OC. That's it. I own her. Everything else belongs to the lovely J.K. Rowling.**

**Ch.1**

Have you ever felt like you were the only person in the room, even though you were surrounded by a large group of people? Have you ever felt so isolated, so out of place, so left out, that you almost wanted to pass out or die right then and there to see if anyone would even notice you?

That was how I felt that day, the day that I was boarding the train to Hogwarts. Surrounded by people, yet no one even knew I was there.

A song from the musical Chicago began to play in my head as I climbed up the stairs and walked into the first empty corridor, sliding the door shut behind me. "_Cellophane/Mister Cellophane/Should have been my name/Mister Cellophane/'Cause you can look right through me/Walk right by me/And never know I'm there…_" I collapsed in a heap in one of the chairs and looked out the window. All of the people out there were talking to people, laughing, a few crying (the parents, anyways). Hugs and kisses all around. It would have been nice if my dad would have come with me on this crazy train, but no, he has to meet me at the school.

I sighed. 'This was going to be a long trip…' I told myself, beginning to search through my bag for some chap stick.

The door slid open suddenly, and there stood an Asian-looking girl about my age (which would be 15, in case you were wondering) with long black hair that was curled slightly at the ends and strikingly light brown eyes, which were large with surprise.

"Oh…I'm sorry…I didn't mean to…umm…here, I'll leave you be…" I could tell she was shy. I was too (sort of), but I wasn't going to miss this opportunity to meet someone so I wouldn't have to go into the school alone.

"No, no, come on in," I said with a smile, "it's fine."

She smiled a bit. "Umm…okay." She came in and sat down across from me. She was pretty; I'm not going to lie. Dressed in a black t-shirt (with something on it, I couldn't tell what it was) with light colored jeans and pointy black flats, I could tell she knew how to dress. Either that, or she liked black.

"Umm…I've never seen you before. Are you new?"

I nodded. "Yeah. Long story…but yeah, I'm new. Just transferred from Ashberry."

"Ashberry…" Her eyes got big again. "Isn't that in America?"

I nodded again. "Yep. It is."

"That must be a long story then, to come all the way here from America. What state are you from?"

They always have to ask. "Indiana."

"Indiana? I've never been there."

I laughed a bit. "Well, besides Indianapolis, there's not really all that much to look at. Except corn. Have you been to America before?"

"Only New York City. That was fun, though. I loved Times Square." She smiled. She had a nice smile.

"You know, until I took the plane here, I had never been to New York City. It is a really great place, I will agree." I paused, realizing something. "Hey…what's your name?"

"Oh my goodness!" She jumped up to her feet. "I am so sorry! Su Li," she responded, sticking out her hand.

"Krystel Koromashi," I replied, shaking her hand.

"Koromashi…isn't that an Asian name?"

I nodded. "Japanese."

"Oh, okay. That makes sense, I guess…you don't look Asian, though."

I really didn't look like what people would expect with my last name. I had dark cherry red hair, blue eyes, was about 5'6", pale, and was a little bit overweight. The only things that made me look Asian were my slanted eyes, which, even with those, weren't that noticeable.

"I know. I'm only half Asian, on my dad's side. But, even with that, I came out looking like an American." We both laughed a bit at that.

"Well, Su, I'm happy to meet you."

She nodded. "I'm happy to meet you, too."

~*~

Su and I talked the entire train ride. I discovered that she was of Korean descent (and went back to South Korea at least once a year), liked the same music as I did (what was on her shirt was Ayumi Hamasaki's "A" logo, who turned out to be her favorite Asian singer, which is the same as me), loved to read, was extremely active in her church's youth group program (she had been to 3 different countries on missions, which I thought was amazing), and had an obsession with chocolate and shoes. She was pretty much my twin.

"So, what house are you going to be in?" She asked about fifteen minutes before the train arrived at its destination. I could see the faint outline of mountains and what appeared to be a giant castle in the distance.

"…House?" I had no idea what she was talking about.

"Yeah…like…what dorm section are you going to be put in?"

"Oh…well…no one ever told me about that…I don't know." She looked confused that I didn't know about this "House" thing. "At Ashberry, we had four girls to a room, all spread out over the school."

"Well, Hogwarts has these things called 'Houses'. There's four of them…Gryffindor," she proceeded to count them off on her fingers, which I noticed had black nail polish on the nails, "Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw (which I'm in), and Slytherin. Each of the houses has a different trait that goes along with it. Gryffindor is bravery, Hufflepuff is patience, Ravenclaw is wisdom, and Slytherin is cunning, but not everyone in each house matches these descriptions. It's more of a…general thing."

I nodded, sort of understanding. "Okay…so, is it like, boys in one house, girls in another, or how does that work?"

She laughed a bit. "Oh no! The houses are co-ed. The rooms are split up, of course, but we're still around each other all the time."

I sighed a sigh of relief. "Well, that's good, because I didn't want to not be able to meet any new hot boys soon."

She laughed. "Oh, there's quite a few to choose from." She then looked out the window. "Hey, we're almost at school. We should probably get our robes on."

"All righty then." I stood up and grabbed my purse, following her out of the corridor. "Hey Su, when we get there, I have to go straight to…" I grabbed the paper from my pocket. "Headmaster…Dumbledore's office. Do you know where that is?"

"Of course I do!" She said over her shoulder, still walking towards where the robes were kept. "Do you need someone to show you the way?"

"That would be nice, would you?"

She nodded. "Sure thing. Not a problem." The train began to slow down a bit. I followed her into the back room, where we grabbed our robes and put them on. The train put on its brakes, lurching forward slightly.

"Follow me." Su said, grabbing my wrist and pulling me along through the crowd of Hogwarts students.

~*~

"How much farther is it?" I asked, a little perplexed. Hogwarts, on the inside, was dark and full of shadows. It was really creeping me out. I was hoping that whatever house I got stuck in was a little more cheery than this.

Oh, did I mention it was really cold? They evidently didn't believe in central heating.

"No, not much farther. It's actually right ahead."

"…Su…there's a statue right ahead."

"I know." She said, stopping in front of the statue. She then said something (it sounded like "lemon berry wedges", but I couldn't really make it out), and pushed me back a bit. The statue swung open, and there stood a new, spiral staircase to climb up.

'Random…' I thought to myself as I followed Su up the stairs, watching her hair swish back and forth. I really wished I could make my hair do that.

Candles were arranged the entire way up, the flames flickering shadows on the walls. I would have thought it was a cool effect, even to the point of wishing I had a camera to film it, except for the fact that it was in such a way that creeped me out even more. There were a few random gargoyle-looking statues on the sides of the walls, and a few windows very high up on the wall.

The stairway was short, which was good, since I'm a tad claustrophobic, and it was a bit narrow. It opened up into an extremely large area, filled with clocks, beakers, tables, cages, and anything else imaginable. It was better lit than what else I had seen of the place, all done with candles. I followed Su into the sea of thingamabobs, which was easier navigated than I had thought. Towards the back of the room, I saw a large wooden desk, with a very elderly man sitting behind it in a large chair. He had a very long, very white beard, half-moon shaped silver glasses which sat on the edge of his nose, and a robe of moons and stars on. To his left, on the desk, was sitting a very large hat with the same pattern.

He was talking to someone in the chair opposite him when we approached the desk. Hearing our footsteps, he looked up, and an expression of warmth came over his wrinkled face.

"Hello Su, it's wonderful to see you!" he said to Su. She beamed.

"Hello Professor! How was your summer?"

"Oh, summer for me as usual…eventful." He winked, and she smiled. "I see you brought Miss Koromashi. Thank you very much, Su. I had hoped that someone nice would be able to aid her today."

"It was no problem, Professor. We met on the train by chance, and she said she needed to see you, so I brought her up here."

"Well, thank you, Su. I hope you will continue to aid Miss Koromashi while she's here." He looked at a clock on his wall. "Now, you should probably go join everyone else for the opening ceremony."

"Yes, Sir." She said with a bow. "Bye, Professor!" She turned on her heels and ran out. Her run was more like a cross between a power walk and a skip. It was interesting to watch.

"Bye, dear." He then looked at me. "Well, Krystel, it's wonderful to see you arrived here all right, and that someone was nice enough to help you up here." He gestured to the other chair across from him. "Go ahead and take a seat. There are a few things we should probably all discuss before you join your classmates."

I sat down in the chair, looked over, and, lo and behold, there was my dad, sitting there, looking over a book in front of him, completely oblivious to the fact that I had even come in the room. I took out a pencil from my purse and poked him in the arm with it.

"Hey!" He said, jumping and finally noticing I was there. "Oh…it's you. Scared me for a second there. Hey, sweetie. How was the train ride?"

"Fun." I said with a smile.

"Well, since we're all present and accounted for now," Dumbledore began, folding his hands, "we should probably get started. First thing's first, I want to welcome you to Hogwarts, Krystel. I know it must not be easy to transfer to a school so far away when you're so close to graduating, but I and the rest of my staff will do our best to make sure that your stay here is as lovely as we can. I also know that your circumstances are a bit difficult right now, so if you ever need anything, anything at all…" He pointed to himself. "I will be here."

I smiled. "Why thank you, Professor…that is very kind."

He smiled back, and then looked at my dad. "And, Ben, it's very nice to see you again. I haven't seen you in quite some time…probably since you were in school here, right?"

My dad nodded. "About that long, I'm sure." He looked around the room. "It sure is nice to be back here again. I've got so many memories wrapped up in this room alone…"

"I'm sure you do, all the times you got sent to my office. Your father was a troublemaker in his day, you know." He directed that at me. I nodded and smiled.

"I know, sir. Sad to say, I think a bit of it has rubbed off on me."

He laughed. "Well, then, I expect you to be in my office quite a bit then." He winked. "Just kidding, of course."

My dad rubbed my shoulder with a smile on his face. This was strange for him…he was actually being affectionate in some sort of way. Crazy stuff.

"Secondly, we need to decide what house she should be in."

A light bulb went off in my head. "Oh! Su and I were talking about those on the way here, on the train."

Dumbledore nodded. "Wonderful. Unfortunately, the Sorting Hat is not present, since the Sorting Ceremony for the first years is currently taking place, so we can't sort you traditionally. I'm just going to have to base it off my own good judgment. Now…" He paused, looking at both me and my dad intently. "Ben, you were a…Gryffindor, correct?"

"Yes, Sir, I was."

"Hmm…well, Slytherin is out of the question, and Ravenclaw seems a little…out of place for her." He stared at me some more. His eyes almost seemed to go into my soul. I'm not gonna lie, it was a bit creepy. "Right now, I'm thinking either Hufflepuff or Gryffindor for you, Krystel. You would work well in either one." He stopped. "Wait…you are honest…and a little gullible (to which, in response, my dad chuckled a bit. I threw the pencil I had poked him with earlier at him)…but you're also brave…braver than you think…you've been through a lot in the past few years, haven't you?

'A lot' was an understatement. Ashberry, while not a place I would want to live at year round (as some kids did), was the place I considered home, especially in the past 3 years. When I came home from school for the summer my 3rd year, I could tell something was wrong. My mother wouldn't even look me in the eyes anymore. As the days turned into weeks, she started to drop things, misplace things more often, and run into things, things like that. My mom never did that as much as she started doing it then. Going back to Ashberry after that…I kept receiving word that she was getting worse and worse. This summer, I was sent to live with my dad, because my mother's mind had officially "snapped". She lost her mind. She was presently in the "Looney bin" in a section of a hospital in Cleveland, Ohio.

"Yes…I guess you could say that."

"…Gryffindor. You should be in Gryffindor. You would be a wonderful addition to that house." Dumbledore sat back, satisfied.

'How did he do that?' I wondered to myself. He was a very powerful wizard, though, so I figured he used some sort of extremely powerful power to come up with that. Then, I realized that I had thought of the phrase "extremely powerful power", and I laughed to myself.

"Wonderful!" My dad exclaimed. "Another Koromashi in Gryffindor. Maybe it'll be a tradition now."

"Yeah, a tradition of troublemaking…" I added with a smirk.

"Well…I think that is all that is necessary to cover with the both of you at this time. I will have all of your things taken to up to the Gryffindor common room for you, and put in this 6th year area, Miss Koromashi." Dumbledore waved his hand. "You will not have to lift a finger until you get to your room. I can get your things up there, but I won't put it away for you."

I smiled. "Thank you, sir."

"I hope you will have a wonderful year here, Miss Koromashi. Remember…if you need anything, I'm here."

I nodded. "Yes, I will remember that."

He smiled, eyes twinkling. I knew I would be able to talk to this guy if I needed it He was like the nice grandfather I never had. Or…great grandfather. Whichever. "Ben," he started, "why don't you lead your daughter to the Gryffindor area? I'm sure you remember where it is."

"Yes, sir. I will do that." He stood up, and I stood up to follow him. He gave a wave, and I waved back, smiling. I followed my dad out of the room and down the stair way.

"Krys, are you nervous about this?" my dad asked as we were going down the stairs.

I chuckled a bit. "Of course not. Why would I be?" The words dripped with sarcasm.

He shook his head, and I could see his shoulders moving from laughing. We walked down the staircase and back out into the large hallway that Su and I came through.

He suddenly stopped and turned around, grabbing me by the shoulders. Not roughly, but in a…fatherly way, I guess. I think he could see the surprise in my eyes by this, so he took one of his hands and ran it against my cheek.

I love my dad. I do. But this was so out of the ordinary for him to do. Whenever we were around each other, we would just sit on the couch, one seat apart. Never be affectionate; never tell each other how much we truly cared for one another. Nothing like that. Of course, since my parents had been divorced since I was about 2, and with mom choosing to stay in America while my dad moved back to England, it wasn't very often we saw each other. I guess he realized now that…well…we had to stick together.

Something like that. Anyways, back to the story. "Krys…" he said, looking me straight in the eyes, his own brown eyes (which were quite lovely, I'm not gonna lie…I wish I would have gotten his eyes instead of my mom's) glistening from…wait…were those tears? No way! "I know that this whole…thing…has been hard on you, and that this is not going to be the easiest thing for you to deal with right now…a new school and all…but…I just want you to know that…that…umm…" His eyes started to really tear up right now. Affection was never his strong point, so I just took the lead. I pulled him into a hug.

"I know, dad…I know. Same here." I said. We knew what we were saying without even having to say it. That's just how we worked.

We broke off the hug, and I followed him to the Gryffindor area, him pointing out things he remembered, and me laughing along with him.

**A/N: Okay…I hope that wasn't a) too long, or b) too cheesy. Haha. Well, tell me what you think! Review, review, review! Thank you all!**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Chapter 2! Yay!!! Have fun reading!!!**

**Ch. 2**

I lay back on the bed that I was going to be calling "mine" for the next however-many months. And I was glad. It was actually really comfortable and squishy; better than the mattresses at both Ashberry and at my mom's house. Both of those had been giving me massive knots in my back lately. Not fun.

A stampede of footsteps suddenly began, and I remembered that there were other people that went to this school, too (go figure!). I heard female voices come closer and closer until they all came in the room. I just stayed where I was, seeing if anyone would notice me.

A few minutes went by, and then a girl with extremely bushy golden hair came up to me with a curious expression on her face. "Umm…are you sure you have the right room?"

I looked up at her. "Yep. This is where Dumbledore told me to go."

She looked at me for a few seconds, and then it was if the fog had cleared. "Oh yes! I remember hearing something about a new student…from America, right?"

I nodded. "That's right."

She stuck out her hand. "Hermione Granger."

I took hers and shook it. "Krystel Koromashi."

"Well, wonderful to meet you, and I'll try and be as nice as possible." She winked. "Just don't bother me when I'm doing my homework…I tend to get a little fussy."

"A little! Bollocks to that, Hermione!" A girl with auburn hair and a nice smile came up behind her. "She almost bit my head off once when I asked her if she knew where I had put my purse. I'm Lavender Brown, by the way."

I laughed inside at the oxymoron that was her name. It was fantastic. "Nice to meet you, and thanks for the warning."

"Lav, did you bring back the one gray shirt I asked you to bring back?" Someone across the room yelled.

Lavender looked over her shoulder. "Yes, Parvati, I did…hold on! I'm talking to the new girl!"

In less than two seconds, an Indian-looking girl with gorgeous black hair and piercing dark brown eyes was standing right next to her. "Oooo, there's a new girl!"

I waved, feeling more like I was in a petting zoo than in a school at that point. "Hi. That's me."

"Parvati Patil. That's so cool! I don't recall ever having a new person here, besides all the first years, of course. Where are you from?"

"She's from America, Parvati." Hermione said, with a matter-of-fact tone. "And, if you would have paid attention to the attached letter that McGonagall sent with our supplies list, you would have known that."

"They sent a letter about me?!" I shot up, confused and a little ticked. More confused than ticked, though.

"Yes, yes, they did. Don't worry about it, though, it wasn't anything bad. Just saying that there was going to be another girl in our dorm room, that she – well, you – was from Ashberry in America, and that we should be courteous to you and help you out in any way we can." She shrugged. "That's all."

"Oh. Okay. That's cool, I guess…" I still didn't like the idea of a letter being sent out about me, like I was some sort of new disease or something.

"Well, all," Parvati started, "It was very nice meeting you, Krys – I hope you don't mind me calling you that, I tend to shorten people's names - , but I need to finish unpacking. Come on, Lav, let's go." She pulled Lavender along by the arm, who was waving and saying "Nice to meet you! Talk to you later!" in the midst of it.

Hermione shook her head and proceeded to set up her bed, which, hey turned out to be right next to mine.

I grabbed my lovely red book bag (I carried all the stuff that I wanted right next to me in my book bag – my laptop, my mp3 player, a few books, paper + pens (to write to people in Ashberry and such) – things like that) and plopped it up on my bed, unzipping it and taking my laptop out of it.

Hermione happened to glance over and see the fact that I had an electronic device at Hogwarts (*gasp*), and simply said "You know that won't work here, right?"

I looked over at her slyly. "Wanna bet?" I said as I opened it up and pushed the center button. The Windows XP Professional screen popped up. "I made sure that it would work here. Has internet access and everything."

She was dumbfounded; her eyes wide, her mouth open a bit. "But…how…? Hogwarts has a spell over it that doesn't allow electricity…how did you do that?"

"I have friends in high places." Well…if she would have known who I was talking about, I would have started singing the Garth Brooks song, "_I've got friends in looow places…"_, but I figured that would be a little unfair to Tim if I said that to someone who didn't even know him.

Tim, while a great guy, and a hilarious one at that, was a bit of a hacker. He loved spending hours on his laptop at Ashberry (we could have electronic stuff there), hacking into every site he could, and messing with the information to throw off the officials that ran the site. When I told him that Hogwarts didn't allow electricity, and that my laptop and everything else wasn't going to work, he ran his hands through his mass of blonde hair, looked me square in the eyes, and said "Bull_shit_ it won't work." Over the next few months, he messed with all my electronics, tweaking them and casting different experimental spells that he came up with. Finally, I have no idea how, but he got everything to work. He said it was my "going away" present.

She shook her head again and kept unloading her stuff, muttering things to herself. I think I heard her say something like "I could have figured that out…"

~*~

My first day at Hogwarts began smoothly. My bed…oh, I could sing its praises for the rest of my life. I woke up, expecting to feel that familiar twinge of pain in my lower back. I sat up, and it was nothing. No neck pain, either. I sighed at the thought of not being in pain for the rest of the day.

Of course, about an hour later, my neck tensed up again, like it normally does, and my usual routine of cracking it all the time came into effect…but the hour without it was wonderful.

I took a long shower, tamed my hair (it's a mane in the mornings), threw on my robes, and went back to my area of the dorm room to get some chap stick. Lavender and Parvati were still in the room, putting on makeup and earrings. I grabbed my chap stick, stuck it in one of the pockets of my robes, and went over to them.

"…So I said, 'You must be kidding me!'" Lavender was saying as she was putting mascara on, "and then she said…Oh, hi Krystel." She saw me in the mirror. Parvati turned around and said good morning.

"Morning guys. Umm…Can I go to breakfast with you guys?" I'm not gonna lie, I felt a little needy for asking this. But, it was a new school (and a big and creepy one at that…), and they knew where they were going. Plus…since Su wasn't in my house, I needed some other friends. I like talking to people, sure, but when it comes to making new friends, I normally have to wait for other people to make the first move. I didn't want to do that here.

Parvati looked straight at me with an angry expression on her face. "No, you can't. We don't like you." She turned back to Lavender, who was looking at her through the mirror with an expression of horror on her face.

"Umm…okay." I turned around, starting to walk away.

"Hey, don't go away!" Parvati started laughing. "I was only joking, Krys. Of course you can. It's morning…I can be a bit sarcastic."

"A bit?" Lavender said with a smirk. Parvati hit her on the head.

"Okay. Cool. Thanks." I said, sitting down on the bed beside Parvati's makeup table. Parvati took her eyeliner pencil and started putting heavy black lines around her eyes. She paused after each eye, smudged them both (the smoky look works for everyone, I swear1), and proclaimed that she was ready to face the world. The three of us got up and went down to breakfast.

~*~

…Like I said, it began smoothly. Breakfast was nice; full of French toast and girlie chatter between Lavender, Parvati, a few other girls whose names I didn't completely catch, a boy named Neville (who reminded me a lot of Tim), and myself. After breakfast, I had started to get up, but Lavender grabbed my arm and pushed me back down, saying that one of the Professors (she said her name, but that day was definitely not my day for names, as I instantly forgot it after she said it) was going to be organizing our class schedules for us, according to our O.W.L scores.

"You did take those at your school…right?" Parvati asked, hesitant.

I nodded, taking a sip of what was left of my orange juice in my cup. "Yep, I did. Did pretty well on them all, too." I took out my chap stick and put some on. I am a chap stick addict, I swear.

The Professor who had taken the job of organizing the schedules was a fairly tall, older woman with square eyeglasses and strictness to her face, except for her eyes, which were softer than would be expected. She wore her hair back in a tight bun, and was carrying around a clipboard with blank schedules on it.

It took her a while, but she eventually got up to our area of the table. Hermione, who was sitting a few seats down from me, was automatically cleared for everything, and ran off to her first class after receiving her schedule. The Professor organized a few more, including the girls that I couldn't remember who they were, and Lavender, who stayed to see what Parvati was getting so they could compare.

Neville had said earlier that he was nervous about what he would get, and Lavender assured him that he would be fine. Sorting out his schedule did take a long time, though, but he seemed happy with it afterwards.

She then came to Parvati and I, starting with Parvati. Before the Professor could even get a word in, Parvati blurted out, "Professor McGonagall, is Firenze teaching Divination again this year?"

She sighed. "He and Professor Trelawney are dividing classes between them this year. The sixth year is being taken by Professor Trelawney."

"Oh." Parvati sounded disappointed. She turned to me. "I'll have to tell you about him later. He's a centaur, you know."

"Really." I tried to sound enthused, but the truth was that centaurs really creep me out.

"Okay, miss Patil, here is your schedule." Professor McGonagall (I was determined to remember her name!) handed it to Parvati, who scanned it over quickly, did a quick trade-off with Lavender, and then disappeared with her.

I was next.

"Krystel Koromashi, am I right?" Professor McGonagall asked, looking at me over her glasses.

"Yes ma'am." I saw a few people looking in my direction, including a guy a few seats down with the most gorgeous green eyes I had ever seen in my life.

"All right. Well, I am Professor McGonagall, and it looks like you will be joining me in my Transfiguration class this year." She paused. "Ben's not your father, is he?"

My dad must have done something to be remembered by the authorities right off the bat. "Yes, ma'am, he is."

She smiled and shook her head. "He was always good with Transfiguration…I will look forward to seeing what you can do, miss Koromashi." She looked down at her clipboard again, which, I assumed, contained my O.W.L.s scores. "Defense Against The Dark Arts…Potions…Charms…Herbology…Transfiguration…Astronomy…and…

Arithmancy." She tapped her wand to the clipboard, then handed me my new schedule.

"There you are, my dear. I look forward to seeing you later today in my class." She smiled, nodded her head at me, and then went on to deliver the rest of the schedules.

I looked down at my schedule. It looked like I had Defense Against the Dark Arts first, after my *gasp* FREE PERIOD?! No way! I was in shock. We never had those at Ashberry. Upon further inspection, it looked like I had not one free period, but 3.

I sighed with glee, and got up from the table, going in the direction that I thought would take me to the Gryffindor common room. I was going to write a few letters in the time that I had.

~*~

When I got back to the dorm room, I plopped down on my bed, grabbed my laptop, and, after it was on and completely loaded, opened up Internet Explorer and started to write my dad an email.

_Hey dad, it's me! Yes, I have computer access at Hogwarts. If you want to know how, talk to Tim Davidson about that. I wouldn't be able to explain the technicalities of it…anyways, I just got my schedule today, and I have free time (can we get a HALLELUJAH??!?!?), so I figured I'd email you. You're probably not going to get this until you get home…unless you're messing with one of the computers in the Missuse department, like I know you never do *shifty eyes* So, o wonderful father of mine, you are going to have to explain to me why it is that all of the teachers that I've talked to so far (which is a total of 2, but still) seem to remember you vividly…what did you do??_

_I expect an explanation and a long email back in return._

_Love,_

_~*Krystel*~_

I pushed send, and then started a new one.

_Dearest Tim-_

_It seems like ages since I've seen any of you guys (and it's only been a couple of months…how crazy is that??) Just wanted to email you and let you know that whatever you did to my electronic things is working amazingly, as they all work. You have officially saved my sanity. I owe you. I owe you big time._

_…Star Wars party sometime? Next time I'm in America, I promise. We'll watch all 6 movies (in the proper order, of course!), and you and I can both swoon over Han Solo and Obi-Wan together. Sound good?_

_Okay, now I have to email your sister. Much love. *mwah*_

_~*Krystel*~_

Send.

_Emily dear –_

_I just sent an email to your brother, which was totally backwards, since I should have sent one to my bestest friend first! Well…after my dad…cause family comes first…especially right now…but, I'm not dwelling on unhappiness! I MISS YOU!!! You have no idea how much I miss seeing your hair on top of your head in the morning from sleeping…and seeing the drool pool on your pillow…and hearing you snore like a freight train all night…*sniffles* AAHH!!! Well…maybe you can come visit here…or I can come visit you all…or something. Lord only knows._

_Well, give hellos to our group, and have Gina, DiJonay, and Lema give you their email addresses for me, would you please lovely? Hugs and kisses._

_Love_

_~*Krystel*~_

I looked at my watch. I still had a bit more time (all of the writing of these emails took longer than you'd think…), so I decided to write one more.

_My favorite cousin (true technicalities aside ^_~) – _

_Hello lovely! I hope all is going well, this being your first day back at Ashberry. Thinking back to my fourth year, you'd probably be in…hmm…Potions right now, right? I already miss throwing paper balls at the back of Mrs. Kinley's head just to see them reflect off of her hair. She uses waaay too much hairspray. If I aimed right, I could always hit Emily in the face with them. She hated that…haha. Good times, good times. _

_Well dearest, I have to go to my first class in a bit (yeah, that's right…I have FREE PERIODS!!), but I just wanted to drop some love. Say hello to Aunt Michelle and my grandma (your Aunt Sarah) for me, and tell them I miss them already._

_Love, _

_~*Your favorite cousin (and I'd better be…since I'm like…technically your second cousin…but I'm still your age…yeah. Whatever. Technicalities suck. ^_^)*~_

Just as I pushed send, I heard a bell go off in the distance. I took that as a sign that I needed to get to class soon (who knew how long the passing period was here! I was used to 5, and then most of the teachers not caring…), so I closed my laptop, grabbed my messenger bag (it's really pretty, black with pink lining…I use it to carry all of my stuff around), and ran out into the common room, joining the mass of students who had just shuffled into it also. I followed a group of students whom I had heard had Defense on their schedules down the halls into one of the darkest classrooms I have ever seen in my life.

I paused at the doorway, just trying to take it all in. It was dark…gloomy…creepy…even creepier than most of the school I had seen so far. There were some disturbing pictures on the wall, and, just by looking at them, I felt like I was going to throw up. I put a hand up against the doorway to try and steady myself.

"Krystel! Hey, Krystel!" Someone was waving at me. I squinted a bit…it was Su! I sprinted over to her as fast as my legs could carry me (which wasn't very fast) and slid into the chair next to her.

"Hey Su! How's it going?"

"I'm nervous about this class…"

"Why?"

The door closed, and an immediate hush fell over the room. I turned my head to see what was going on, and I saw Hermione and two others (one of them being green-eyes from breakfast this morning) scurry to find seats. One of the most foreboding looking men I have ever seen in my life stepped out of the shadows and walked towards the front of the room. He seemed to almost…float on the ground, with the heavy black flowing cloak he was wearing.

"I have not asked you to take out your books," he said as he went towards the front of the room. I heard some rustling around me, but I chose to look straight ahead. When he had turned and faced the class, he began speaking again. "I wish to speak to you, and I want your fullest attention."

I shifted a bit in my chair, feeling extremely uneasy.

"You have had five teachers in this subject, I believe." He paused. "Naturally, these teachers will all have had their own methods and priorities. Given this confusion I am surprised so many of you scraped an O.W.L in this subject. I shall be even more surprised if all of you manage to keep up with the N.E.W.T. work, which will be much more advanced."

Su let out a little whimper next to me. I started chewing on my tongue a bit, a nervous habit I have. It looks like I'm chewing gum when I do it. I got in trouble a lot by my choir teacher at Ashberry, who was always suspicious that I had some sort of pocket or something in my mouth to hide my non-existant gum in.

He started traveling around the room, talking as he did so. "The Dark Arts are many, varied, ever-changing, and eternal. Fighting them is like fighting a many-headed monster, which, each time a neck is severed, sprouts a head even fiercer and cleverer than before. You are fighting that which is unfixed, mutating, indestructible."

I felt that this guy had a little too much enthusiasm for darkness. I mean, sure, I like the dark, but not as much as this guy. This was getting even creepier as it went on.

"Your defenses must therefore be as flexible and inventive as the arts you seek to undo. These pictures," he gestured at a few of the creepy pictures that were hanging up in the room, "give a fair representation of what happens to those who suffer, for instance, the Cruciatus Curse, feel the Dementor's Kiss, or provoke the aggression of the Inferius." With each example, he waved his hand at the pictures. Out of the corner of my eye, it looked like Su was about to cry.

"Has an Inferius been seen, then?" I heard Parvati squeak out. She sounded about as scared as I would have I asked the same question.

"The Dark Lord has used Inferi in the past, which mean would be well-advised to assume he might use them again." It creeped me out whenever anyone mentioned He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named as 'The Dark Lord'. There were a few…_interesting_ people at Ashberry who would refer to him as 'The Dark Lord', and they seemed dead-bent on becoming Death Eaters. Who knows why. I stayed away from them.

"Now…" he continued, floating around the room again, "you are, I believe complete novices in the use of nonverbal spells. What is the advantage of a nonverbal spell?"

Now, had I been in a normal classroom setting, and not in a dark, gloomy room with a creepy teacher, I could have answered this question. I would have been all over it. But, at that moment, besides my tongue-chewing activity, I was completely frozen.

He looked around the room a bit, and then settled on the only one who raised their hand. "Very well – Miss Granger?"

"Your adversary has no warning about what kind of magic you're about to perform, which gives you a split-second advantage."

A glint appeared in his eyes. "An answer copies almost word for word from _The Standard Book of Spells, Grade Six_," he started, "but correct in essentials. Yes, those who progress to using magic without shouting incantation again an element of surprise in their spell-casting. Not all wizards can do this, of course; it is a question of concentration and mine power with some…" he paused, and his eyes went elsewhere, "lack."

"You will now divide into pairs." He said as he floated to his desk. "One partner will attempt to jinx the other without speaking. The other will attempt to repel the jinx in equal silence. Carry on."

I turned to look at Su, who was already looking at me. "You're my partner," she started, "…you have no choice."

"Oh, and like that's a bad thing." I said as we went to a section of the room that was free. Su decided that she would be the one trying to jinx me, and that I would attempt to repel it.

"Have you ever done this before?" Su asked me, pulling up her sleeves a bit.

I shook my head. "No…we only talked about it last year at Ashberry. You?"

"No…I did learn a Shield Charm last year from Harry," she nudged her head towards the two boys that were a few feet away from us, the red-headed one purple in the face, the other (hey, it was green-eyes!) waiting for the jinx to come. "But, I'm sure that won't help." She pointed her wand out. "You ready?"

I poised my wand up. "Bring it."

Su smiled, and then a look of total concentration came over her face. I glanced over at the boys next to me. Yep, he was still purple. Looking around the room, I saw a few people's lips moving with the spells, which was definitely cheating, but I didn't blame them. Hermione had, evidently, reflected the jinx that Neville had sent at her, but the teacher gave no recognition.

It was at that moment that I realized I had no idea what his name was. "Su…" I mouthed, as tight-lipped as I could, "What is the teacher's name?"

She sighed. "Man, you threw off my concentration…" she glanced over at the teacher. "That's Professor Snape. He's a tad bit…_intense_."

"Intense doesn't quite describe him…"

"Miss Li, I don't see you jinxing anyone." Snape suddenly appeared from almost nowhere. Su closed her eyes, looking like she was doing everything she could to keep from crying.

"Sorry sir…"

He was just about to walk away when he noticed me. Our eyes locked, and I was taken back. I had seen them before…I knew it. They were…so familiar. Pitch black eyes are not something one forgets very easily. "And who might you be?"

I stared at him for a second, petrified. 'Oh crap,' I thought, 'he asked me a question! Vocal cords, I need you to work for me…'

"Krystel…Krystel Koromashi." I managed to stammer out.

A different look came over him as soon as I said 'Koromashi'. My dad must have done something in his class, too. "Koromashi, you say…any relation to Ben?"

Figures. "Yes sir…he's my dad."

"Funny how you look nothing like him…" He stopped for a second, looking at me still. "You…you look…" He stopped, and then shook his head. "Never mind. Carry on, and I don't want to hear another word out of you both for the rest of the class, you understand?"

Su and I both nodded her heads. He went over to the other side of the classroom.

"What was that all about?" Su mouthed as she poised her wand again.

"I have no idea…" I mouthed back. We resumed the pose we had before he came over to us.

A few minutes later, Snape came back over to our area, just not to us – to the boys next to us. The red-head almost looked like he was going to pass out, he was so purple. The last time I saw anyone look like that, it was after my fourth year class at Ashberry had a contest to see who could hold their breath the longest (stupid, I know…I didn't take part in it. It was mainly a boy thing. Figures, right?), and Eddie Adams and Liam Wilson were the last ones left…they lasted for about 4 minutes each, turning completely purple in the face, before passing out.

…Don't worry, it was a school-approved of function, so there were teachers there that helped both of them come out of it.

Anyways, back to the story. Professor Snape stood there, watching the two of them, with nothing happening. He seemed to be getting a little fed up, especially since he decided to take out his wand after nothing had been happening.

"Pathetic, Weasely," he said, directing that at the red-head, "Here – let me show you…"

What happened next is pretty much a blur in my mind, but the things I can pick out is that Snape turned his wand on green-eyes, and then green-eyes reacted by screaming out "_Protego!_", which I assumed was the Shield Charm that Su had been talking about earlier.

'Oh, so green-eyes' name must be Harry. Good to know.'

Snape was knocked off balance and hit a desk. He didn't look happy about it, either. I thought that he was going to start shooting death-rays from his eyes at Harry.

"Do you remember me telling you we are practicing _nonverbal_ spells, Potter?" he almost yelled at Harry.

Harry didn't flinch. "Yes."

"Yes, _sir._"

"There's no need to call me 'sir', Professor."

I had to put a hand over my mouth to keep from going "Oooohhhh, burn!", like we always did at Ashberry whenever a student and/or teacher said something smart like that. The teachers at Ashberry were all fairly young, and enjoyed joking around with the students. I figured that this wouldn't be the right time to say anything like that. Glancing over at Su, I saw that she was stunned. Hermione was shaking her head on the other side of the room. Everyone's eyes were focused on Harry and Snape.

There was a pause of a few seconds. Snape blinked a bit, obviously stunned. Harry even seemed to be stunned by what had escaped his mouth. Red-head was grinning like a fool.

Those few seconds were the most painfully awkward I have ever experienced in my life.

"Detention, Saturday night, my office," Snape said…no, _growled_ was more like it. "I do not take cheek from anyone, Potter…not even '_The Chosen One_.'" A second later, the bell rang, dismissing us all,

It took me a few seconds to connect the two names together as I collected my books, Su right behind me. Harry…Potter… 'Oh my God…is that…??' Upon a further inspection of him, I could see, under his tousled black hair, a little bit of a lightning bolt scar poking through. Of course I'd see him eventually! I knew he went to Hogwarts. I just hadn't been paying attention. As usual.

'Emily will die when I tell her…' I thought to myself as I focused back on Su. She was still stunned a bit. I nudged her with the tip of my wand. She came to, and then turned to me as we were walking out of the classroom. "Did you see that? Did you SEE that?" She looked like she was going to have a heart attack.

I nodded. "Yes, Su, I was right there. I saw it." I had to squint a bit as we went back out into the light of the hallway. "Oww…man, it's really dark in there, isn't it?"

"Yeah, it is…Harry!" Su started walking a bit faster, after Harry, Hermione, and the red-head (I really needed to learn his name!!!) I went after her.

"Harry, what on EARTH were you thinking?" Su almost screamed at him when she finally caught up to him. He looked a little dazed.

"Don't ask me…I have no idea where any of that came from." He looked her square in the eyes. "It all just seemed to…fly from nowhere." He gestured with his hands, showing things flying in the air. I snorted a bit, trying to hold back a laugh. He looked ridiculous.

" So, Krystel," Hermione nudged me a bit, "How was your first experience with Snape?"

I looked straight at her, trying to sound as serious as I could. "Words cannot describe it…"

"Intense, maybe?" Su offered with a smirk. I nodded, returning the smirk. She turned back to Harry, accosting him a bit more for his outburst. A couple times, I felt his eyes in my direction as I talked with Hermione about where I would have to go for my next class (which was Potions, and she said she'd find me after the break and let me follow her), until finally, he just walked right over to me.

"Okay, this is probably uncalled for…and maybe, even, a bit rude," he started, "but I saw you this morning, and, for the life of me, I cannot figure out who you are. I feel even worse now, since you're a 6th year, and you're in my house." He crossed his arms. "Now who are you?"

"Boy, you all really don't get that many transfer students, do you?" I asked. All of them shook their heads. I sighed. "Wow. Must get boring seeing the same people all the time…Ashberry always had tons…anyways, I'm Krystel Koromashi. Just call me Krystel, though…or Krys, if you really feel like it. Whichever."

In talking to him, I got to look at his eyes. Ooohh, they were so pretty! (I'm an eye person, if you haven't caught on…I consider eyes the most attractive part of any human being, because you can pretty much look at a person's eyes and see everything about them. Plus, they're just cool looking!)

"All right then…Krys." He smiled. "I'm Harry." He sighed. "But you probably already knew that."

"As of…maybe…5 minutes ago, yeah." He looked at me a little surprised. "I'm a little slow right now, getting used to everything…if you had walked into Ashberry, I would have known you right away. Here…" I looked up at the ceiling. "I'm all screwed up still."

"Ashberry? Where is that?"

"America, Harry." The red-head popped in. "Even I knew that. Goodness." He then looked at me; it seemed like for the very first time. "Hey, who's this?"

"Ron, you are a slow one, aren't you…" Hermione chimed in.

I smiled at him. Ron. Suited him perfectly. He had nice eyes, too…they were a sort of blue-green color. Perfect for people with red hair. "Krystel Koromashi."

"Ron Weasley." He stuck out his hand. I shook it. I like handshakes. They're nice. He had a nice one…strong, too. I knew I'd be friends with this kid.

"Nice to meet you. I've been wondering what your name was all day. Bright red hair is not easy to miss."

"Red hair in general isn't easy to miss. Is that natural?" He pointed to my hair.

One of my hands grabbed a strand of it, twirling it a bit. "Yes it is. Got it from my mom."

He nodded. "It's nice…wish mine looked like that." He looked down at his watch. "Hey, we're on break now, aren't we?"

I looked at my watch, and, indeed, we were. "Yep. Looks like it. Sweet." I went and grabbed Su, who had just been standing there, not saying anything. "What are you doing right now?"

"I've actually got a class right now…" She said.

"Aww, that sucks." I pouted. She laughed a bit.

"Well…let me see your schedule." She tore it out of my hands before I could even give it to her. Scanning it really quick, she squealed. "Hey, you're in Astronomy too? Wonderful! I always get lonely up there, since no one I know takes the class anymore." She smiled at me. "Okay, I guess I'll see you then…and lunch…and dinner, too. Oh, and Transfiguration. Yay. I won't be alone in that class, too. And maybe later."

"Let's just say whenever, okay?"

"Okay, sounds good." She winked at me. "Got to run. Bye guys!" Su said as she took off towards a far-off stairway, her gorgeous hair swishing behind her. I turned back to the 3 others that were still standing there.

"This is going to be a dumb question, but…how do we get back to the common room again?"

Harry smiled. "Just follow us. We'll show you."

~*~

The rest of my day was filled with endless homework, nonverbal spells (I did cast one! It was pretty exciting…Lavender looked a little shocked when I hit her with the Hair-Thickening Charm, but it did make her hair look bouncy and full of volume), and making a potion that really did not turn out like it was supposed to. Instead of being pale pink, it turned a strange shade of red…the teacher (Professor Slughorn, who, as I found out, was not the normal Potions teacher…at least, not to the rest of the students) couldn't even figure out what was going on with it. But, since I was so positive about it, he gave 5 points to Gryffindor for my attitude.

Transfiguration was the last period of my day, besides Astronomy (which was at midnight, and only on a few nights a week…my first day being one of them), and I was actually excited to be there. Transfiguration was my favorite subject (besides Astronomy, which was my ALL-TIME favorite), and it seemed that I was already on Professor McGonagall's good side, because of my dad.

I walked into the room with a smile on my face. I found Su after a bit of looking (she was sitting on one of the far sides of the room, as if she didn't want to be seen) and took the seat next to her. She shot me the brightest smile. I got out my books and set them on my desk.

"You are never going to guess what I just learned a bit ago…" She started, positively beaming.

"What?" I said, waving at Harry, Ron, and Hermione, who had just arrived. Hermione made them all come over in my direction and take the seats behind Su and I.

"I just learned that Mandy Brocklehurst and Terry Boot broke up again."

I kind of sat there for a bit. "Umm…okay. Background details, please?"

She looked confused for a second, and then smacked her forehead. "Oh God, I totally forgot…you have no idea who I'm talking about, do you?"

"Nope."

She sighed. "Okay…well…I'll have to tell you all of it later. Actually," she grabbed a notebook out of her bag, "can I just write you a note about it?"

I shrugged. "Fine with me."

"All right, everyone, take your seats." Professor McGonagall said as she strolled up to the front of the room. Everyone turned towards her and gave her their full attention. "Now…I hope you all realize what is going to be happening this year. There is going to be a lot more on your plates as far as homework goes." She paused, almost smirking a bit. "Since everyone is going to be getting the same amount of homework as everyone else, I will be giving no sympathy to those who cannot complete all of their homework on time, unless there is a very good reason for it." I thought I saw her eyes focus on me, and then shift to someone behind me, but that could have just been in my head.

She continued to go on to say that Transfiguration was a very complex subject, and that, if we were not concentrating hard enough while performing our spells, that something drastic might happen. I recalled a time in my third year when I had accidentally turned Gina's hair blue, along with giving her tomatoes for fingertips. Everyone started cracking up, and Tim even came over, grabbed one of her fingers, and pretended to eat the tomato on the end of it. Gina was not happy about it, but was cracking up along with everyone else, nonetheless. Even our teacher, Mr. Perez, was having trouble casting the counter spell because he was cracking up. Eventually, he did make it go away, but not before he got a picture of my Transfiguration mistake and stuck it up on the wall. He said he'd refer to it for first years, saying not to do this. Lorissa came up to me after her first Transfiguration lesson, cracking up about it, asking if it was true. She just shook her head at me, laughing when I told her it was.

"Something wrong, Miss Koromashi?" She asked. It took me a few seconds to realize that I had been sniggering throughout her speech, and that people were looking at me.

"Umm…no." I said, starting to blush a bit. "Nothing's wrong."

"What was so funny, then?"

"Umm…nothing?"

Her eyes were glittering. "So, I didn't say anything funny? Nothing like that?"

Su was looking at me like I had just contracted the Black Death. "No," I said, "I just had a Transfiguration memory moment. That's all." I looked around at everybody. "Sorry everyone." I then looked at Professor McGonagall. "Sorry to disrupt the class. Please continue."

She simply shook her head at me. "You and Ben, I swear…anyways, where was I?" McGonagall continued her speech about the difficulties in Transfiguration, and what we would have to transform, or change back from a transformation, this year. Also, much to my dismay (and it seemed everyone else's'), she announced that almost all of the spells cast would need to be nonverbal.

For the rest of the hour, Su and I stared at a banana, trying to change it into a mouse, without saying anything. I did happen to steal a glance behind me, seeing that Ron had turned purple in the face again. Eddie and Liam popped back in my head, and it was all I could do to keep from cracking up.

My banana wasn't doing anything. It was just sitting there…being a banana. Not being a mouse like it was supposed to be, no matter how many times I repeated the spell in my head. Nothing. Over and over and over again, I repeated it. Nothing. Absolutely nothing.

I leaned back in my chair and let out a sigh of frustration, taking a break from the mental strain that this was giving me. For some reason…I wanted to make the banana dance. It would be more entertaining than trying to turn it into an icky mouse (yes, I said icky…sue me, why don't you). Better yet…how about it holding maracas and singing the "Peanut Butter Jelly Time" song? If I got caught, it wouldn't be good, even if I was apparently on McGonagall's good side. But, it would be so worth it…

Before I knew what I was doing, I picked up my wand, whispered the incantation, and my banana started to dance, shaking its maracas, softly singing about peanut butter and jelly with a baseball bat.

Professor McGonagall was in the back of the room, so she couldn't see what I was doing. I held my hand in front of my mouth so that I wouldn't laugh. Su was doing the same. I heard Harry whisper "What the…" from behind me.

Frustration gone, I made the banana stop dancing (to Ron's dismay, who let out a whispered 'Aww…'), and went back to working on making this banana a mouse.

I had to blink and shake my head a couple times to get my contacts to stop drying out from the intense concentration this was taking. As I was trying to focus on making this fruit into a mammal, another thought popped into my head, something that had been silently pulling at the back of my brain all day since it happened – where had I seen Snape before? I could have sworn that I had seen him before, at sometime or another…his eyes were eyes that burned into you, and you could never forget them. I knew that it was going to drive me crazy until I figured it out, and, I knew that every time I saw him, it would just make it worse.

Truth be told, I kind of wanted to just barge into his office and ask him, "Hey, would there be any possibility that I have seen you before in my life?" But, I was sure that wouldn't go over well.

'Okay, okay, enough of that…back to the banana.' Looking at this banana for an hour was making me really hungry. Luckily, right before I couldn't take it anymore, and started to grab for it to devour it, the bell rang, telling us that the day was over, and that dinner would be in a few hours.

At least, for most people, the day was over. For me, I got to take a power nap after dinner, then go to up to the tower for Astronomy.

Ron grabbed my arm as we were leaving the classroom. "What the bloody hell was that? That had to be the most hilarious thing I've seen all day!"

Su came up behind me. "Isn't that from that one American television show…"

"…Family Guy?" I asked her, taken back. It wasn't originally from there, but it had been featured on there, when Brian dressed up in a banana suit and sang it for Peter to cheer him up.

Her eyes lit up. "Yeah, that's it! Isn't it from that?"

"I don't know where it originally came from, but it was an internet video, and then Seth MacFarlane took it and used it on the show, yeah."

Ron was shaking his head. "I have no idea what you two girls are going on about, but all I know is that I want to see that again."

"I'll show it to you later, when we're in the common room, okay?" I said as we started heading towards the common room. I finally knew where they were by myself! I was so proud.

"Hey, I'll see you later, okay?" Su said, touching my hand, and then walking in the direction of the Ravenclaw area. I thought that was a weird gesture until I felt the piece of paper that she left me. 'Yay, a note!' I thought as I quickly stuffed it in my pocket, following behind Ron (who had somehow gotten in front of me on our way to the Gryffindor area) through the portrait hole and into the commons.

~*~

I woke up to my laptop playing "Helter Skelter" by the Beatles into my ears at almost full blast. I had decided to test out a few songs the first few nights that I would have to wake up for Astronomy, and that one seemed like a good choice. But…I didn't wake up to it. I bolted up to it, almost screaming in surprise. Though I do love Paul McCartney, and I do love it when he screams in that song, I decided that it wouldn't be good to wake up to this song all the time.

'Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds might be better…' I thought to myself as I grabbed a hair band, slipped on my robes, grabbed my bag, and hustled out to where Su had said she would meet me.

I could tell she was a bit out of it too as we walked up the stairs to the tower. The night sky was absolutely gorgeous; since there was no distortion by city lights, the stars were extraordinary – numerous and shining brighter than I had ever seen them shine before.

Tugging on my robe, Su lead me to the side of the tower, across from all of the telescopes, where we took a seat on the floor. It was so dark that I couldn't really see anything, even when my eyes adjusted. That's why I jumped a bit when I heard Professor Sinistra come in.

"Good evening, students," she said with a soft, lovely voice, "welcome to your sixth year of Astronomy. I am happy to see many of you have decided to return to this subject, along with a few new faces…" I felt her eyes on me, even though I couldn't even see her. "This year, we will be studying the stars, constellations, planets, and all other bodies in extreme depth. I like to consider myself a fairly light homework-giver during the N.E.W.T. period, compared to all of the other teachers, but it will still take some time to complete, I'm afraid." I heard her footsteps go over to the telescopes, and saw her silhouette against the night sky through the windows. She had a very nice profile, I'm not gonna lie. "But, tonight, I thought that we would all just grab a partner and look at the night sky...marvel in its beauty…and set out to understand why it is what it is."

"Did that last part make any sense to you?" Su whispered to me.

I shook my head. "No, not really…"

"Good. I don't feel stupid then."

We both got up and went to a telescope. My first day at Hogwarts started out good with breakfast, became awful with Snape (where had I seen him before???!?!), evolved into mediocre with all of my other subjects, brightened up with the dancing banana in Transfiguration, and ended with my new-made friend and I gazing at Neptune together.

I think it went fairly well, don't you?

**A/N: I'm just gonna put this all out there right now: Yes, Tim is gay…Yes, I did copy the Defense Against The Dark Arts scene directly out of the book (I couldn't help it…it was a great way for her to start off the year…NOT)…And Snape is going to play a larger role in the story eventually…but NOT as her love interest…Lorissa will be playing a bigger role, too, eventually…Ben DID do something, but I'm not quite sure what it is yet (haha…I love being a write-as-you-go writer!)…and Harry has pretty eyes.**

**And yes…that is officially the LONGEST story chapter I have ever written in my life. A full 19 pages! AMAZING!!! They probably won't be that long ever again…**

**Any questions? Comments? Anything? Please review!**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Hello everyone! Well, this is my last day of Christmas vacation, so I'm gonna crank out some chapters like no tomorrow today! YAY!!! How's that sound? I think it sounds good.**

**Oh…and, as I don't know how long this story is going to be (it could be long, it could not be long…just depends on how much I want to skip around), I'm just gonna say this now: this is in Harry's 6th year, and I'm gonna be changing a few things. Dumbledore's still going to be killed (unfortunately), but that's really the only major thing that's going to stay the same…I'm definitely taking my creative license on this one!**

**Disclaimer: Yeah, I don't own Harry Potter or anything associated with it. If I did, Sirius would still be alive, Dumbledore would still be alive, Harry wouldn't be so angsty, and Snape would be married and have a wonderful life. ^_^**

**On with the chapter!**

**Ch. 3**

_So, here's the thing: I've fancied Terry Boot since my second year, and he's been dating Mandy Brocklehurst off and on since second year. A long time to be going off and on, but they have. To put it out there…she's a bit of a whore, in my opinion. Her and Michael Corner have also been on and off since about 3__rd__ year, mostly happening while she's with Terry. It makes me so angry…but, anyways, yes, they've broken up again, so now this is my chance! Question is…what do I do? I mean, all he's ever said to me was "Hey, I dropped my quill, can you get it for me?", and "Sorry" if he accidentally bumps into me (which, little does he know, all the bumps are caused by me, just so he'll notice me!). That's it. Well…wait, there was that strange card he sent me last year when I was really sick in the infirmary…but that's it. Wow, it feels like I've known you all of my life, and yet I only met you a few days ago. How bonkers is that? And, yes, I just said bonkers. ^_^_

_Talk to me later when you read this – Su._

The end of my first week couldn't come soon enough. True, I had so much homework to do over that weekend, but I had expected that, so it wasn't a big deal. My main concern, though, besides the homework and checking my email to respond to the emails I sent my first day (I had hoped that I got replies…), was to talk to Su about her boy problems.

It was strange…she said it felt like she had known me her entire life, and I kind of felt the same way about her. She reminded me a bit of Emily…but I had known Emily since I was about 3 years old, which is almost my whole life…anyways, at about 9:00 on Saturday morning, I grabbed my mp3 player and set out towards the Ravenclaw commons, where Su said for me to meet her.

The school, when all of the students weren't rushing here and there to get to their respective classes, was rather quiet. There were a few younger kids walking the hallways, but, other than that, it was empty. Then, as if a switch had been…well…switched in my brain, I realized that most everyone was probably at breakfast.

'Smart one, Krys…really smart…' I thought to myself as I stuck my headphones in my ears, turned the player on, and started changing tracks, talking aloud to myself as I walked.

"Love Me Do, no…The Last Time…eh…nah, not in a Rolling Stones mood…no Christina Aguilera this early in the morning for me…too depressing…GAH! CHRISTMAS MUSIC!!! I forgot to take all of that off last year…ooohh, this works." I settled on "Acquiesce" by Oasis, a B-side by one of my favorite bands. I tend to like older music or rarer songs by my favorite bands. It's no wonder that about 50 of the songs on my laptop were currently by U2 (my favorite band of ALL TIME), and the songs were a pleasant mix of both mainstream songs, live cuts, b-sides, and flat out rarities.

Yay for Limewire. That's all I have to say.

I walked around a bit, jamming to the song. After a while, there was no one around, so, pushing the 'next' button on my mp3 player, I decided to find a good song that I could sing to.

I like singing. I think I mentioned that I was in choir at Ashberry before…well, even if I didn't, I was. I'm not the greatest singer; I'll come out and say that. I can carry a tune, and read music like it was a second language (which, really, if you think about it…it kind of is.), and I can sing kind of loud, and go kind of high…but that's about the extent of it. I'm no Christina Aguilera, that's for sure. Wish I was.

Anyways, where was I…oh yeah, walking around the school. So, I finally settled on "What's Up" by 4 Non Blondes (Linda Perry rocks my socks…I don't care what anyone says!), and, making sure there wasn't anyone around at that point, began to belt the lyrics out.

"Twenty-five years and my life is still/Trying to get up that great big hill of hope/For a destination/ I realized quickly when I knew I should/That the world was made up of this brotherhood of man/For whatever that means…" At this point, I started to climb the stairs, getting more into my rock star mode than I really should have.

"And so I cry sometimes when I'm lying in bed/Just to get it all out, what's in my head/And I, I am feeling/A little peculiar…" I was at the top of the stairs, going down the hallway. "And so I wake in the morning and I step outside/And I take a deep breath, and I get real high/And I scream from the top of my lungs what's going on?"

I should have been paying more attention to my surroundings, but I wasn't. I started dancing around the hallway, screaming the chorus into my invisible microphone at the top of my lungs. "And I said HEEEEEEY, HEEEEEEEY, I said HEY, WHAT'S GOING ON? AND I SAI- OWW!" I exclaimed as I fell over from the impact of bumping into someone.

"Sorry, sorry…I wasn't paying attention…" I said, being both shocked and embarrassed. Looking up, I froze. Of all the people looking down at me…of all the people that I could have run into…it had to be him…

"Where on earth do you think you're going, Miss Koromashi?" Snape said, looking down. "And…what on earth were you doing?"

I yanked one of the ear buds out of my ear, got up on my feet, and sighed. "I was going to the Ravenclaw area to visit Su Li, sir, and I decided, since no one was around when I decided this, to start singing, and…I ran into you?" I said that all faster than I had intended, getting a bit red in the face.

Snape's eyes…glittered? I don't know what it was. There seemed to be a hint of amusement in them at my embarrassment. Either that, or at my awful Linda Perry imitation. But he wouldn't know the difference between me and her, anyways, since he had probably never even heard of her. 'Heck,' I thought to myself, 'he's probably never even heard of the Beatles. A sad life that would be, not knowing the Beatles…'

"Well…just be more careful next time." He said as he walked past me. I was a little bit in shock…after everything I had heard from Harry, Ron, and Hermione about him in the past (him being dark magic-happy, being mean to Harry, etc, etc), I was expecting a detention or something.

I nodded. "I will, sir. Sorry for knocking into you."

He kept walking, and then turned back towards me. "And please…refrain from screaming in the hallways. I could hear you all the way in the Astronomy Tower. If you feel the need to scream, do it in your dorm, please." He shook his head as he continued walking down the hallway.

I sighed, and started singing (normally this time…no longer in rock star mode was I) along to "Babylon" by David Gray.

"Let go of your heart/Let go of your head/And feel it…Babylon…"

~*~

"Okay, Su…the best advice I can give you is, pretty simply, boys SUCK." I said, turning my head to look at Su, who was pulling out some grass from the lawn It was rather warm out for a September day, and sunny too. We were both laying on the grass, our outer robes laid out like blankets underneath us. "I'm dead serious. Boys suck, and the only good ones are either taken or gay, I swear."

"Well…Terry's not taken anymore…and I'm pretty sure he's not gay." She said with a smile. She then suddenly flipped on her back, putting her hands over her eyes, and letting out a sound of frustration. "I don't know what to do!"

I watched the clouds for a bit. Su was really hung up on this Terry guy. "Have you tried…umm…talking to him?"

She nodded. "Yes, I have tried talking to him…but, normally, he's either got Mandy all over him, or his friends are all around him, and I don't know any of his friends…" She rolled over on her stomach and looked me square in the eye. "I don't know why, but I've never really had any friends in my house…just Gryffindor." She sighed. "And even then…not very many good friends."

"Well, Su," I said, raising up to sit Indian style (I have to admit, I felt like quite a rebel sitting on my robes!), "then we are going to start to change that. How about going and having a chat with Terry, hmm?"

Su's eyes became huge. The sunlight really brought out how light brown they really were. "…Right now?"

I nodded. "Yep. Right now."

"Oh my God…" She got up and started pacing around. "What…what would I talk about? 'Hi Terry, nice day, isn't it…hey, by the way, did you know that I am _madly in love with you_?!?!?!" She stopped, shaking her head, then looked at me. "What would I say?"

"Umm…I always start by asking about what kind of music they like…"

"Music? Really?" She thought about that for a bit. "But what if he doesn't like music? Or…what if he throws out some band that I've never heard of and…"

I stood up, grabbed both of our robes, and walked over to her. "You're thinking about this too much," I said, putting my hand on her shoulder. "You've just got to go for it, really. That's all you can do. If it fails, it fails. You can try again later. If it doesn't…then, hey, one step closer, right?"

She looked down, and then nodded. "Yeah, I guess you're right." She looked up at me again. "Thanks."

"No problem. Now, come on, let's go back to the Gryffindor common room…I want to spruce you up a bit for this."

~*~

"Okay…there he is…" Su said to me, hiding behind a corner near one of the stairwells that led back into the building from outside. I'm not gonna lie; I did her up pretty good. I curled the ends of her hair a little bit more, gave her a little bit of makeup, some lip gloss…and got her to wear a pair of pointy black heels that I took with me, just in case there was a special occasion. They absolutely KILLED my feet, but I figured, since she was a lot thinner than I was, that they might be okay on hers.

Looking over the wall, I got my first peek at the famous Terry Boot. He was tall, had sandy blonde hair, and smoky looking eyes. He was sitting on the edge of one of the grassy hills, watching the sun glitter on the crystal blue lake down below, hair blowing in the wind.

"Hmm…not bad," I said, nodding in approval. "Reminds me of James Dean, almost."

"Oh, I never thought of that…" She replied dreamily. "Look at him…"

I leaned back around the corner, pulling her with me by the collar of her robes. "Okay, you look gorgeous, and you're going to do this. You ready?"

She sighed, looking back at Terry again, then looking at me. "Yep…I'm ready."

"Remember. Weather. School. Music. Anything else. Got it?" I repeated to her the 4 Conversation Topics that DiJonay had come up with. DiJonay was bouncy, cheerful, and willing to talk to anyone, including guys. Everyone in my group at Ashberry knew that she was a bit…umm…_promiscuous_ in her ways, but we didn't really mind. At least, I didn't mind. Gina went a bit crazy about it sometimes…well, anyways, to get Lema (who is PAINFULLY shy, especially around guys) to talk to more people, including guys, she devised the 4 topics that she always used to get people to talk to her. And, lo and behold, Lema made quite a few new friends last year using these topics. "I'll be right here, close enough to hear what you're saying…look back at me if you need any help, okay?"

She nodded.

"Okay, now GO!" I said as I pushed her out. She almost fell over, but caught herself, and started to (slowly, I might add) walk towards Terry.

She stood behind him for a few minutes, obviously nervous. Then, she made her move, sitting down next to him.

He looked over at her, a little surprised. "Well…hi, Su."

"Hi, Terry." She stole a quick glance at me. I gave her two thumbs up. She then turned back to him. "Nice day, isn't it?"

He nodded. "Yes, it is. I always love days like this…sunny and bright. I get a bit of sun glare in my eyes after staring at the lake too long, but it's worth it."

"Yeah, I get that all the time. It's actually kind of funny to see Snape's nose look green, though."

He laughed. She looked at me again, a smile on her face.

"Whatcha doin?" Someone came up behind me, causing me to jump. Turning around, I saw it was Harry. 'Oooo…pretty eyes…'

"Getting Su to talk to Terry Boot." I turned back to her, hearing her say something about the clouds. "You?" I looked around. "Where are Ron and Hermione?"

"Well…" He sighed, rolling his eyes. "Ron and Lavender are busy playing tonsil hockey," I laughed (I had just found out that the two of them were together the night before), "and Hermione's doing homework, as usual. Everyone else was gone, so I decided to take a walk." He smiled. "And, seeing you here, I decided to come bug you."

Su stole a glance back at me, looking hopeful. I held up the number 2 to get her to start talking about school. She nodded and turned back to him. "So…I noticed you weren't taking Astronomy this year…"

"Yeah, I had to drop it." He sighed, a little breeze going through his hair. Terry had nice hair. I had a thing with touching guys' hair…it was always nice and soft. "Not enough time to get everything in with it…something like that."

She paused. "O.W.L.S, huh?"

He nodded. "You caught me." Brushing his hand through the grass, he kept talking. "You know…I always loved that subject…but I was never very good at it. No matter how hard I tried, I could never get it right. You, on the other hand," he looked directly at Su, and I could tell she would have turned into a puddle if she could, "you were always amazing at it."

She blushed a bit. "I wouldn't say amazing…"

He picked a blade of grass, put it in between his thumbs, and blew hard into it, causing a whistling sound. She smiled, then turned back to look at the lake.

"She really likes him…doesn't she?" Harry asked.

I nodded. "Looks like it."

"They'd make a cute couple. I wonder if Seamus could…no, never mind."

I looked at him. "No, what were you going to say?"

He shook his head. "It'll make me sound like a gossip queen."

"Nah, no more than I am." I made a "keep going" sign to Su, who decided to pick a blade of grass and blow through it also. "Tell me."

"Well…" he ran a hand through his hair, "Seamus Finnegan is a good friend of Terry's, and Su's always been nice to me, so maybe…I don't know…maybe Seamus could talk to Terry about her or something…"

I turned to Harry. "You're brilliant! I love it! Where did you learn to plot like that?"

"I do tend to hang out with girls a lot." He sighed. "And, with Lavender and Ron together…I guess I caught the gossip bug."

I turned back to Su and Terry. There was a silence…but Su didn't look at me. She just stopped talking, and stared at the lake. She was freezing. I was losing her.

"No!" I whispered.

"What?" Harry said, looking at them, curious.

"She just…stopped talking. She stopped talking." I started waving my arms around a bit, trying to get her to look at me. "4 Conversation Topics! Come on, Su! Come ON!!!"

"You know…I always thought you hated me, Su." Terry started, looking down at the grass.

Su's eyes became huge. "You thought I hated you? Why?"

He shifted his gaze towards the lake. Su looked over at me with an astounded look on her face. I just shrugged. Apparently, Harry shrugged too, because she just rolled her eyes and looked back at Terry. "I don't know…I just…it always seemed like you wanted nothing to do with me…I mean…well…" He ran a hand through his hair. "You probably won't remember this, but…our first year, in Transfiguration, I knocked my quill on the floor and asked you to pick it up just to make sure you could talk, since I hadn't seen you really speak to anyone. After I found that out, I tried to keep talking to you, but you didn't seem to want to talk to me…then, last year, I heard you got sick, so I sent you the card, but it just seemed like you avoided me after it…"

She sighed. "So, this whole…sitting by you, talking probably took you off guard, didn't it?"

He nodded fiercely. "Yeah, it did."

"Well…Terry…I'm not the most outgoing person…and nobody seemed to want anything to do with me, so I haven't really talked to many people. And…" she paused, then sighed a bit. "I always thought you didn't want anything to do with me…none of your friends seem to like me much, anyways…"

"No, I've wanted to talk to you for a while. Just could never find myself alone, what with Mandy and everything…" He rolled his eyes.

"Him and Mandy were about as bad as Ron and Lavender are, I swear…always snogging and such…" Harry said under his breath. I laughed a bit at his use of the word "snogging" (it really is a great word, especially if you're not used to it, like I wasn't), then flashed Su a thumbs up, even though she wasn't looking at me.

"So…you and Mandy…" Su said quietly.

"Are done. That relationship was awful to begin with, anyways. I don't ever want to speak to her again." He paused. "I'm not talking to Michael ever again, either." He sighed. "You know, your best friend is not supposed to be shagging your girlfriend…" He shook his head. "Sorry. I'm sure you were just dying to know that."

She smiled. "No, it's fine."

Terry looked down at his watch, and then suddenly jumped up. "Oh wow. That was fast." He looked down at Su. "Sorry to cut this short, but I'm supposed to be meeting Marietta and Cho and…well…whoever else they decide to drag along for some brunch," he looked at his watch again, "right now, actually."

"All right. Have fun."

"You too, with…whatever you're going to do today." He said with a smile. She waved a bit at him, and he started to walk away. Su turned back towards the lake.

"Hey…Su?"

"Hmm?" She said, almost looking like she was in a dream.

"Come over and talk to me again sometime. It was nice."

She smiled, and turned a bit pink. "Okay. Bye Terry."

"Bye Su." He walked away.

Harry and I immediately pretended like we were talking about Potions. Terry walked past and nodded at Harry in recognition. Harry did the same, and then returned to our made up conversation.

Once he was out of earshot, I ran over to Su, who was still sitting, looking at the lake, grinning like a fool.

"Hey girl!" I said as I plopped down next to her, Harry sitting next to me (a bit closer than I would have thought he would, too). "That went well, I think. You?"

She smiled. "He wants to talk to me again." Her eyes were glittering. "He wants to talk to me again."

I got up and grabbed her arm. I moved my head to signal Harry to grab the other arm. "Yes, he does want to talk to you again, honey. Now, come on, I'm going to take you back to your bedroom so you can snap out of this okay?" I looked at Harry.

"On the count of three. One…two…THREE!" We pulled Su up by the arms, since I could tell she wasn't going to do it on her own. Once she got on her feet, she was able to walk by herself, but that stupid grin hadn't gone off her face.

"He wants to talk to me again…" was all she said as the three of us headed back to the Ravenclaw dorms.

~*~

What started off as a nice day (weather wise, anyways…the day was nice in every other aspect) turned dark and stormy as it wore on. At about 11:00, I tried to curl up and go to sleep, but, no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't block out the loud sound of the raindrops falling on the roof. It wasn't a soothing sound, like raindrops falling on a roof is supposed to be. It was rather…unnerving, especially since it was in a place I didn't know.

Sighing, I put my glasses on, grabbed my laptop and ear buds, and proceeded to go to the common room. A nice fire was blazing in there, and the red chairs were very cushy. Perfect for a late, rainy night.

I curled up on one of the chairs nearest the fire, opened up my laptop, and got it running. I then checked my email, seeing that my dad, Emily, and Lorissa had responded. Only Tim hadn't.

'Not surprising,' I thought to myself as I clicked on my dad's email, 'he probably hacked into the White House and started writing his opinions about Bush all over the front page again…'

_Hello Krys! Glad to hear everything is going well. And, that Tim got your laptop to work. He had been talking to me about it before you left (how he got my address, I don't know…but he did), making sure that it would be okay with me if he made it work. I said it was fine, since I like typing better than writing things, personally. Oh, and yes, I am using one of the computers in the Misuse department. Mr. Weasley has given me full reign in the Muggle department, since I know how everything works…he sure gets a kick out of toasters. I will say that…_

_Yes, you get free time this year, but don't let it go to waste. Use it to study. I used to be a total bookworm during those periods, just my nose in my books. That's probably what it was that I did that made all the teachers remember me; I was just a very good student. I wanted to be an Auror, you know. Didn't quite turn out that way, but I still ended up in the Ministry, right? ;)_

_Anyways, write back soon, and tell me all about what's been going on. Oh, and I found out that there's a new U2 music video on YouTube. It's called "Window In The Skies" or something like that…figured you would be interested._

_Love,  
Dad_

Oooo, new U2 video! I got very excited as I closed out my email page and went to YouTube. I typed in "Window In The Skies" and…lo and behold, a new video! Clicking on it, it popped up, and started to play.

"The shackles are undone, the bullets quit the gun…" Bono started to croon. I had heard this song already, and it never really left a big impression on me. Even after reading that it was Bono's second favorite song that U2 had made (under "Stay (Faraway, So Close!)", which was one of my favorites anyways); I still didn't get much from the song. Sounded like a regular U2 song.

"Who's there?" I heard Harry call out in the dark. "Hello?"

"Hey, Harry. It's Krystel."

"Oh." I heard him plod out into the common room. He came up and took the chair across from me, running a hand through his hair. The light from the fire sent shadows dancing across his face. He looked lovely. Sure, I had only known him for about a week, but I could already feel myself getting a bit of a crush on Mr. Potter.

"I didn't think anyone else would be up right now."

"Hmm…I couldn't sleep. The rain was bugging me." I said, my eyes reverting back to the video. Nothing was really happening.

"What are you…is that a laptop?" He exclaimed, coming over behind the chair and looking over my shoulder.

I nodded. "Yep. A friend at Ashberry wired it for me so it would work here." I clicked out of the video (I figured I would watch it later) and began looking for the "Peanut Butter Jelly Time" Family Guy clip. "Here you go. This might explain where I got the dancing banana from in Transfiguration the other day."

"Okay." We both watched it; me cracking up, him saying "What the hell…" behind me. After it was done, he came out from behind my chair and sat down on the floor, in front of the fire.

"You okay?" I asked. He didn't seem quite right.

He looked at me, and then looked back at the fire. "Just a lot of things going on right now…all coming at once…"

"Boy, do I know how you feel…" I said, thinking about my mom. I wondered what she might have been doing at that second, and then remembered that she was probably muttering something about jellybeans, like she was the last time I saw her.

"No, you don't." He said, still staring at the fire.

I closed my laptop. "Well, I don't know what it's like to have to save the world or anything, but I do know what it's like to have problems, and have them all thrown at you at once." I opened it back up, clicking into my My Music folder. "It's not like I wanted to go to this blasted school, anyways…" I muttered under my breath.

"…I know." He said, sighing. "Sorry. I'm just…I don't know." He looked at me. "I'm not normally like this, you know."

"Angsty?" I said with a smirk.

"Wow, nice word." He started picking at the rug underneath him. I clicked on the little icon that said 'The Beatles – Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds', and it softly started to play.

He looked up. "What is that?"

"Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds. Beatles." He nodded in recognition. "You like the Beatles?"

"…Well…I don't really know…I don't get to listen to much music, be it mainstream or wizard music." He paused. "But…I do like this one song…oh, how does it go…" He thought for a while. "Something like…I want to run, I want to hide…something about streets…I don't remember. I've only heard it a few times."

My eyes lit up. I knew exactly what song he was talking about. "Where The Streets Have No Name?"

He nodded. "Yeah, I think that was it…I hear Aunt Petunia play it every once in a while. Neither Uncle Vernon nor Dudley like music very much, so she only does it when they're gone and she doesn't think I'm paying attention. That's normally the song she listens to, and one about not finding what you're looking for…"

"I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For." He liked U2, and didn't even know it.

"Yeah, that's it. I like that one, too. That's as far as she gets with music, though. You're a regular musical genius, aren't you?" He asked.

I blushed a bit. "Well, my friends at Ashberry used to call me 'human jukebox', and I guess I do like music a lot…"

He nodded. "It's good to have something you like a lot." He started picking at the rug again. "The only thing I like a lot right now is getting through the night without any visions…or nightmares…"

Angsty. Of course, he had every reason to be. But…he was angsty. "You're a bit emo, aren't you?"

"Emo?"

"Yeah, emo…short for emotional. It's what we call the kids in America who are…well…angsty. Though, normally, they're mad at the world and wear a lot of black and what not…"

He was silent for a bit. John Lennon's voice filled the common room, singing the well-known chorus of the song that is definitely NOT about LSD. Sure, John, sure. I'll believe that when pigs start flying around.

"Maybe some people have reasons for being mad at the world…" Harry said, finally breaking the silence between us.

"Lucy In The Sky" ended, and, the shuffle on my player picked out "All For Leyna" by Billy Joel for us to listen to.

"Like what?" I asked.

"Well…" The rug was going to be coming apart by the time he was done picking at it. "Maybe…having no control over your life…wanting to be a regular person…having the guilt that your parents died because of you…"

Now this I knew a lot about. Emily loved to learn about magic history, and she especially loved to learn about what happened the night that Harry's parents were killed. She was fascinated by the fact that Harry lived that night, up against a wizard as powerful as…well…You-Know-Who. If you got her started on that night, she would talk about it for hours.

"Your parents didn't die because of you, Harry. They died protecting you."

"Which is what killed them."

John Lennon's "Imagine" started playing. 'Great, perfect time for this song to show up.' I thought.

"You can't blame yourself for what happened, Harry."

"What do you know?" He suddenly snapped at me. "You've known me all of, what, a week, and you think you know everything about me? Just like everyone else?"

I shook my head. "No, Harry, I don't think I know everything about you. I _know_ I don't know everything about you." I paused. "Actually, I don't know much about you at all…what's your favorite color?"

He blinked, the anger out of his face. "…What?"

"What's your favorite color?"

"Umm…blue, I guess."

I nodded. "You look like a blue person. There. Now I can officially say I know something about you."

He shook his head and looked back at the fire. "You sure know how to change the subject, don't you, Krys?"

"I don't mean to. It just kind of…happens." I started scrolling down my music selection to find something happy to listen to. "Morning Glory" by Oasis (Yay Oasis!) sounded good, so I clicked on that. Noel's piercing guitar started flowing through my laptop's speakers, and I immediately felt a little more at ease. Even though the song itself is energetic, I always feel peaceful when I listen to it. It's…comforting.

"Well, you do a good job of it."

"Why are you really awake right now, Harry?" I asked.

He didn't say anything for a bit. Then, he spoke. "I had…a…dream."

"A dream? Or a nightmare?"

He sighed. The shadows danced on his face. "A nightmare."

"What happened in it?" I had a feeling that he needed to just get all of this out of his system. He looked bothered by it.

"I saw…all of it…when they were killed." A few of the threads were coming loose in the rug. "I've had that dream before, but this time…it was more vivid…as if I was remembering it from when it happened…" He shut his eyes for a second, and then opened them back up.

I put my laptop (now playing "3 AM" by Matchbox 20) on the chair and went on the floor next to him. Not even really knowing what I was doing (or if it was even appropriate…or if he was the type that would appreciate it), I pulled him into a hug. I could tell he was shocked at first, but then he returned it, holding onto me tightly.

"Baby, it's 3 AM I must be lonely…" I started to sing to myself along with the music. The hug ended (he gave good hugs, I will say that), and he looked back at the fire. The song carried on, and then faded into "Come Away With Me" by Norah Jones.

"Thank you." He said after a while. He looked at me, his eyes shining. "I really needed that. Especially tonight."

I nodded. "Anytime, I swear."

"Sorry I kind of snapped at you earlier-"

I held up my hand. "It's quite all right. I'm used to getting snapped at. My friend Gina is the moodiest person I have ever met, and, normally once a week or so, she'd snap at me for something." I sighed. "But, then she'd quickly apologize for it, and blame her mom for not getting her put on bipolar medicine, like she was supposed to be on."

"…You really liked it at Ashberry, didn't you?"

Now it was my turn to be silent for a while. "Yeah…" I said, after what felt like eternity. "I really did. I kind of miss it."

"You've only been here a week, though."

I smiled. "Yeah, that's true. I'm giving this place a chance, don't worry."

"You haven't even gone to Hogsmeade yet, for goodness sakes." He said, shaking his head a bit.

"Oooo, what's that?" I asked, making my eyes huge to show mock curiosity, even though I really did want to know what it was.

"Well…they have shops and things there…with candy, and joke stuff, jewelry shops…almost anything you can think of."

"…Record store?" I asked, intrigued.

He looked confused. "Umm…I think so…"

"Fantastic. My dad's been wanting this record by an old wizard band…Flying Feathers or something like that…and I haven't been able to figure out where to look for it. That might be a good place to start."

"Umm…sure." He looked back at the fire.

"Hey, the rain stopped." I said, suddenly noticing that the rain has stopped pounding on the roof.

He nodded. "So it has."

"…Do you want me to stay up with you?" I asked with concern.

Harry's gaze slowly went to mine, his emerald eyes bearing down into my soul. Oh, they were gorgeous. "No…that's all right. I think I'll stay here for a while longer."

I nodded. "Okay, Harry. Good night then." I went to grab my laptop when his hand grabbed my wrist.

"Hey…if it's not too much to ask…could you…leave that down here? The music…it's making me feel a bit better."

I smiled. "Sure. Just give it back to me in the morning, okay?"

He nodded. "Okay."

"Good night, Harry."

"Good night, Krys."

I went back up the stairs to the common room. As I left, I could hear him scanning through a few tracks before he found the one he wanted.

"Imagine there's no heaven, it's easy if you try…"

**A/N: Shorter chapter than the last one, I think. Well, what did you think? Did I make Harry angsty enough? That's what I was going for…and, hey, what's Snape doing in the Astronomy Tower? Could it be…*gasp* FORESHADOWING??? Haha. I'll never tell.**

**…Well, until I write the part that tells. But that won't be for a while.**

**Su and Terry are cuuuute, aren't they? Oh, that was a fun scene to write. Well, please review!!! Would be much appreciated!**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Chapter 4…Chapter 4…I'm going to skip ahead in time a bit for this one. Not much…just to Hogsmeade, which, if I remember right, is in…October? The first one? If not, someone let me know, please.**

**Ch. 4**

"Krys, Krys, wake up!" Someone was poking me to wake me up. "Wake up, you'll miss the train to Hogsmeade!"

"Idon'tcareifImissitornot!" I said in a long, muffled string, considering that my face was in my pillow and the covers over my head.

"Come on…Hogsmeade's fun." Lavender said as she continued poking me. I tried to swat her hand away, but she kept poking me.

After a few minutes of this, I gave up. Looking at my watch, I saw that it was 7:45. She was right, if we didn't hurry, we'd miss it. I yawned and stretched, rubbing my eyes (getting leftover eyeliner all over them, mind you), put my glasses on, and looked at Lavender.

"So, who gave you the unpleasant task of waking me up?"

"Parvati did…she got tired of having to throw stuff at you to get you out of bed every morning." I am a heavy sleeper, and I like my sleep. A lot. The bed was torture on me, too, since it was like sleeping on a heavenly cloud. Whoever had the unfortunate task of waking me up…well…had the unfortunate task of waking me up.

"Ah, you look horrible!" Lavender exclaimed. She flicked her wand a couple times. Looking in Parvati's vanity, I saw that my makeup was done, my eyebrows plucked (which really needed to be done, anyways), my hair brushed, curled, and shining, and my face absolutely clean.

"Oh, one more." She flicked it again, and I felt completely clean. Even my teeth felt like they'd been brushed.

"Damn, girl, where'd you learn to do that?" I said as I quickly pulled on a pair of jeans and my U2 Rattle and Hum t-shirt (which I was oh so proud of), grabbed my purse, and walked out behind Lavender.

"Ronniekinns!" She exclaimed as soon as she caught sight of Ron. He immediately turned red in the face. Harry and Hermione, who had been standing next to him, exchanged looks and started to chuckle a bit. I started laughing too when Lavender began to smother his face with kisses, leaving shiny lip-shaped prints all over the place from her lip gloss. Parvati showed up behind me, asked where Lavender was, then rolled her eyes and started laughing as we all went out of the common room.

~*~

"…And it's seriously legal to drink this?" I said, staring at a mug of butterbeer sideways. Su and I met outside of the train, and the first place she took me to the Leaky Cauldron, because she said I just _had _to have a butterbeer. I didn't believe her that we could get away with it. Beer and the administration at Ashberry didn't mix very well.

Su nodded. "Perfectly legal. It's really good, too." She took a sip of hers.

"Is it…like…beer-beer?"

She looked at me funny. "Just drink the bloody thing already."

"Fine, fine." I grabbed the mug and took a small little sip. And, she was right. It did taste really good. It reminded me of those butterscotch candies that grandmas always seem to have around their house, that just last forever, but never lose their flavor. I took a big gulp.

"Ha, I told you it was good." She said with a smirk.

"I never said it wouldn't be," I put the mug back on the table, "I just didn't believe you that we could drink it without getting busted for it."

She shook her head, took another sip, and then looked out the window.

"Hey…I thought you said you were going to meet Terry sometime today?" It had only been a month since I got her to talk to him, but her and Terry had been talking quite frequently since then. She was the one who actually suggested that they hang out at Hogsmeade (which I seriously had nothing to do with…honestly! She came up with that on her own!), and had practically been talking of nothing else.

"Oh…" she looked down. "Well, he's sick today…"

"Aw, that sucks." Another sip. Yummy. I was beginning to feel a bit warm inside. I couldn't taste any alcohol in it, but, if there was, it was sure doing the trick on me. The warmth gave me the urge to ask Su something I had been wanting to ask her for about a month…well, ever since a certain late night with my laptop in the common room, anyways…

"Umm…Su…I wanted to ask you something…"

"Mmmm?" She said as she drank some of her butterbeer.

"Well…it's kind of pointless…but…" I could feel myself getting flustered. I didn't know why; there was no reason, and I had never been like this talking about boys. "What's up with Harry? Is he…you know…"

A smile crept across her face, and her eyes started getting glittery, like she was plotting something. "…Single?"

I nodded.

"I'm actually not sure right now…I think he is, though." She paused, pressing a finger to her lips in thought. "Yeah, because he and Cho dated last year…I think he's still single. I think he might fancy Ron's little sister, though," Su rolled her eyes, "whatever he sees in her, I have no idea. I love Ron, don't get me wrong. But Ginny…she seems a bit too stuck up." She clapped her hands together and squealed. "Oh, I'd love to see the two of you together!"

I felt my cheeks getting red – either from the butterbeer or talking about Harry.

Just thinking about Harry made my face get even hotter. Yep, it was Harry.

I couldn't really explain what it was about Harry that I had started to drift towards. The only really deep conversation we had had was that night a little over a month ago, in the common room. Besides that, it had just been a few here and there, some in class, some in the hallways, times like that. And, with every conversation I had had with him, he seemed really angsty. Really, _really _angsty. And, yes, while I did tend to fall for the angstier boys and men (Ken from Digimon…Frodo from Lord of the Rings…John Lennon was my favorite Beatle…oh, and did I mention I had an undying crush on Meriwether Lewis? Yes, as in Lewis and Clark Meriwether Lewis. I love him.), I didn't think I'd actually go for someone like that. I was proving myself wrong. Very wrong.

"Hey…Krystel? You in there?" Su was waving her hand in front of my face. I had apparently zoned out for a few seconds. I shook my head to wake myself up.

"Yeah, I'm here…sorry, kinda…left Earth for a second there…"

She rolled her eyes. "Well, there are some more stops we gotta hit while we're in Hogsmeade. It's not every day I get to stock up on chocolate frogs…" She drank down the rest of her butterbeer and sprang up. I did the same, only I didn't spring up from the seat. I stood up, and got a bit of a head rush.

"Hey Su? You sure there's no alcohol in this?"

She smirked. "I never said there was…and I never said there wasn't." I watched her walk out the door, her hair swishing behind her, and I followed her once my head stopped spinning around.

~*~

"So, yeah…I still can't believe that you can drink butterbeers, and it's legal." I said in between munches on these amazing dark chocolate covered coffee beans I found in the candy shop Su and I went into. The package said that there was more caffeine in one coffee bean than in two cups of coffee combined. There was a sticker on the package that said, "Great for pulling all-night cram sessions!"

I could feel why. After the first one, I felt the caffeine course through my veins. I love that feeling…it is an addiction, and, back at Ashberry, when classes were over, Tim and I would go and hit Starbucks nearly every day. I hadn't had any coffee since I came to Hogwarts, and it had been literally driving me crazy.

Parvati laughed. "You need to slow down a bit…you're talking like a mad woman!"

"It's the coffee…what can I say!" Parvati, Lavender, and I were all sitting in the common room, talking up a storm in front of the fire. Hermione had kicked us out because she had been trying to study, and we were talking too loud for her to concentrate.

Lavender was lying on her stomach, her head resting on a pillow between her arms. She had fallen asleep, and evidently having a very pleasant dream, as she kept whispering things and sighing.

I eyed her suspiciously as I popped another bean in my mouth. "What's with her?" I asked Parvati.

"Who knows? Probably something with 'Ronniekinns'. She's been like this all night…didn't you notice?"

"Nah, too busy enjoying these decadent little bits of heaven…" I could feel my eyes getting wider and wider with all the caffeine. I was glad the next day was a Sunday; otherwise I wouldn't be able to sleep.

Parvati rolled her eyes and threw a pillow at Lavender. It didn't even faze her. She shook her head. "They're absolutely disgusting together…all they do is snog, snog snog…" She sighed. "I think Lavender thinks it's more than it really is."

I nodded. "Yeah, I think so too…but, you know, I don't think anyone would be able to get that through her love-clouded brain right now. She'll just have to realize it on her own."

"I hope you're right…" Parvati replied, looking back at Lavender, and then looking at me. "Hey, speaking of that whole subject…you seeing anyone you want to chase after?"

"Umm…" Should I tell her? I told Su…but I knew Su better than Parvati. Even if I had only been friends with both of them for a month, I still was closer to Su than almost anyone else I knew (except for my Ashberry group). "Well…kind of."

"Oooo, who?"

Gah. I had to tell her now. "Umm…Harry Po-"

"Harry? Are you serious?" She asked me in a sort of…I don't even know what kind of tone it was. It wasn't very nice sounding, I will say that.

I tucked some hair behind my ear and started to do my tongue-chewing thing. "Well…yeah…"

She shook her head. "Girl…you have no idea what you're getting yourself into with that one."

"What do you mean?"

"Well…I liked him 4th year, right? So, he asked me to the Yule Ball (only because Cho couldn't go with him, as I came to find out later), and I was excited, of course. Both Padma and I looked stunning," she paused, "Oh, sorry, Padma's my twin. I'll have to introduce you soon. Anyways, story. We both looked stunning, and Harry didn't want anything to do with me. Nothing at all the entire night. I was getting pissed off, so, after the dance was over, I went up to him, dragged him off into one of the hallways, and pretty much told him off." She smiled. "That was rather fun to do, I must say…well, that was when I found out that I was just a replacement for Cho, and that nothing would happen…yeah. The rest of the year was sort of…not fun for me, but I got over it." Her smile fell as she looked at me. "I'm not saying don't go for it. I'm just saying…be careful, and make sure you know what's really happening, and not just what seems to be happening."

I popped another bean in my mouth. "Thanks, Parv. I mean…I don't even know what it is right now. Just a crush, I'm thinking. But…who knows what it could be later."

She nodded. "They always start off that way. You're right, though…who knows. It could grow, or it could fade."

I watched the fire a bit. It certainly didn't feel like it was going to fade. Every time I felt his emerald eyes on me, I melted inside. I was like a big puddle of guh every time he was around. Pretty much how I become every time I looked at pre-1980 pictures of U2. Baby Bono, man…GUH GUH GUH GUH.

"Hey, are Su Li and Terry Boot going out?" Parvati asked me after a few minutes of silence.

"Well…not really. They're just in the friends stage right now." I smiled. "But, they probably will be. I wouldn't be surprised."

"Oh." She looked at the fire too. "That's good. I always held out for the two of them to end up together, since they're just so perfect."

"You got a guy, Parvati?" I asked, smirking.

She instantly blushed. "No…"

I threw a pillow at her. "Don't lie to me. You're blushing massively. Spill."

She sighed. "All right…I kind of…have a thing for…umm…Seamus…"

"Oh, I don't blame you. He's cute." Seamus Finnegan was a 6th year Gryffindor as well, Irish, and a cutie. If I hadn't have met Harry, I would have been all over Seamus, I was sure of it. Plus, he was absolutely hilarious, and his Irish accent reminded me of (who else…) Bono before he lost most of his accent.

"You think so? Lavender's been teasing me about it relentlessly since I've told her. Like she can talk, though…" She looked back over at Lavender, who was still lost in her dream. "I don't know what it is…it just started last year, towards the end of it." Something suddenly caught her eye. "Oh my God…is that a hole in the rug?!"

I couldn't help but snicker a bit as I stuck two more beans in my mouth, got up, said good night to Parvati, and went up to lay down and read, since there would be no way I would be able to sleep then, and I didn't want to explain why there was a hole in the rug.

~*~

The next morning, I woke up in an extremely awkward position with my copy of "White Oleander" by Janet Fitch lying on top of my head. One leg was sticking up over my covers, the other one twisted around so my foot was trying to push a hole into the mattress. One arm above my head, the other one behind me. How I ended up that way, I will never know.

I sat up and stretched (to which my muscles screamed at first, then relaxed and let the blood flow into them again), pulled my hair back into a no-doubt messy ponytail, and sauntered into the common room.

…Yes, sauntered. I may be using that word in the wrong context, but it's a fun word, so I'm going to use it. Anyways, I'm the one narrating this thing, am I right?

Anyways, I went into the common room, and who do I see but my three favorite people.

…No, not Su, Lavender, and Parvati. I guess I have more than 3 favorite people. I meant Hermione, Ron, and Harry. They had papers and books all over the place, and they were busily scribbling things down on their parchments.

I sat down on a piece of the floor that wasn't covered in materials, and picked up the nearest book, trying to make myself seem interested in whatever it was I was reading.

"Good morning, Krystel." Hermione said, without even looking up.

"Morning all. What are you up to?"

"Homework." Hermione stopped and looked at the other two, who were staring at each other, obviously trying to see who could make the other one burst out laughing first. "At least, that's what I'm doing. They're doing…whatever it is they're doing."

Ron couldn't hold it in anymore, and started laughing, causing Harry to laugh as well, and Hermione to loudly sigh. At that sigh, the two of them quit laughing, muttered a "sorry", and bent back over their parchments, still giggling.

"Would you like to join us in our studying?" She asked, not even looking up.

"Nah, that's okay…I already got all of my homework done."

Harry looked over at me in disbelief. "Are you kidding me? All of it?"

I nodded…actually not sure if I did get all of it done, but not really caring at the same time. "Yep."

"Impressive." He said, writing something on his paper. "Always takes me forever to do all of my homework."

"If you do it at all," Ron chimed in.

"…True."

"So…are you any good at Potions?" Ron asked me, scribbling something out furiously.

"Umm…I'm all right, I guess."

"Would you be willing to help me figure out this bloody mess, then?"

I smiled and nodded. "If I can, sure."

He immediately scooted over in his large chair for me to sit by him, throwing the book on my lap.

"Help me. Just help me."

**A/N: Okay, I'm gonna end there. I don't know where else to go with this particular chapter. Hope you all like this one!**

**And this is a little delayed…**

**Calli: Well thank you. I'm trying not to make her a Mary Sue. If she gets that way, please let me know, because that's the last thing I want.**

**Anonymous: Even though you're anonymous, I'm still gonna respond. I love the dancing banana, too! One of my late night random thoughts, let me tell you.**

**Kelli: Gah, I know. I can't quite wrap myself around making Dumbledore in character. I'll work on it, though. I promise.**

**Anonymous (2): EMO HARRY!!!!**

**SerenityRose016: Seriously, I love the Beatles too. All I keep listening to is the Beatles…it's kind of scary. O__O Hope you like the songs…if you don't, that's cool too. I just decided to stick them all in there for the heck of it. There will probably be more to come, anyways. Thanks for the review!**

**Until next time!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Ch. 5**

So, the day finally came. October 18th, at 2:36 in the morning, I turned 16. I woke up that morning, not feeling any different. I put on my slippers, grabbed my toothbrush, and was a few steps away from the door when I realized that I had finally reached the year that every teenager (at least, every teenager in America) cannot wait to reach.

Well…besides 18…and 21, for those who want to go out and party, but don't because they're afraid that they'll get caught by the cops.

But, for me, 16 was the year. That was the year that I was going to get my driver's license, so I could drive on my own…no parents to yell at me that I parked too crooked or that I slowed down too slow…the radio all to myself…my hair blowing in the wind.

"YAY!!!!" I started jumping up and down, not caring if I woke someone up or not. Today was my birthday, and I was 16, and everything was right in the world!

"What the…Krys, go back to bed!" Lavender groaned out, throwing a pillow at me. Parvati followed suit. Even Hermione grumbled a bit in her sleep, and then turned over.

"Why? It's my birthday!" I said, continuing to jump up and down. "I'm EXCITED!"

Lavender sat up in her bed, squinting at me in the dark. "Well, that's great that it's your birthday…but can you celebrate it in a few hours when the rest of humanity isn't sleeping?!"

"What time is it?" The thought suddenly popped into my head. I looked at my clock, and it said…

4:07 am.

Whoops. "Oh, umm…sorry. Thought it was later."

"Yeah, I'm sure you did." Lavender lay back down, pulling the covers over her head.

"Night, Lavender." I grabbed my laptop, knowing full well that I wouldn't be able to go back to sleep, and my headphones (so that my music wouldn't wake anyone up…I felt like playing some LOUD AND CRAZY music), and went out into the common room.

I hadn't been able to get online and check my mail for about a month, considering that…well…I had been lazy, so I figured I might as well check my mail so that no one would decide to fly over to Hogwarts from Ashberry and kill me in my sleep.

_Hey hon…I got everyone's emails for you. They're attached on a lovely Word document. There are a few more people on there than whom you asked for…actually, it's a couple teachers. ^_^ They all want to know how you're doing and such._

_Everybody misses you…me especially. It's so lonely not having my best friend around. I've found that I'm spending a lot of time with Lorissa, though…even more than normal. I love how she's just randomly a part of our group. But…I really miss you. I hope you can come and visit sometime, or maybe some of us can come there. Need to see you like CRAZY. Got some boy troubles to talk about…about someone you would never imagine…*sigh* _

_List of things to do when we next see each other:_

_Star Wars marathon (Tim told me…and I'm IN!)_

_Starbucks run_

_Nearest record store spree_

_Ice cream binge_

_Crashing on the nearest couch_

_Sound good? I think it does._

_Write back soon._

_Love you like mad;_

_Emily_

Next email:

_Star Wars party – totally! Ewan McGregor + George Lucas + mullet = LOVE. You coming back here soon, then? Or am I just going to have to fly over there to see you? Hmm…that would be kind of fun. Hey, Emily's bugging me to ask you if you've met Harry Potter yet. You know her…*rolls eyes* Anyways, glad to see the computer's working – let me know if any bugs show up in it or anything._

_Ohh…and there's a new fourth year walking around here who won't leave me alone._

_Worst part: he looks ..HARRISON._

…_Can we get a collective "SHIT"?? It'd be cradle robbing! Tell me what you think – but I'm sure you're on the same page as me._

_3 ya. _

_-TIMMAY_

I giggled at that one. Tim had a thing for George Harrison from the Beatles, especially when they were younger, a la 1964, wearing their bowl cuts with pride. And, the fact that there was a new kid who looked like him floating around made me wish that I could be there, teasing Tim relentlessly about it.

But, I knew that if the kid wouldn't leave him alone, that Tim was bound to start cooking something up in his head…and that was never a good thing.

I hit the reply button and began typing.

_Tim – _

_George Harrison look a like, hmm? And a fourth year at that? Hmm…what do you mean by "not leaving you alone"? And... don't start planning anything right now, okay? You better not. You know what has happened the last couple of times. I don't want you doing anything drastic again, mmkay? _

_…But…umm…send me a picture? Thanks love. ^_~_

_Love…me (who else??)_

Send. I sighed, deleted the message, and clicked the "next" button.

_Hey girlie – grandma and aunt Sarah say hello, and I do too! Wonderful to hear from you! I was beginning to think you wouldn't write to me or anything…even though I *am* family and all LOL. It's not fair that you get free periods, seriously. I want a free period. The rooms get all crampy and stuffy after a while. But, you know that…since you went here for 5 years. And yeah…Mrs. Kinley uses WAY too much hairspray. I haven't thrown anything at her head yet, but I will. _

_Have you been watching the Daily Show lately? You really should…John Stewart just gets better and better and better. ^_^_

_Love you – Lorissa_

"Hey, why are you awake?" Looking up, I saw Harry running a hand through his hair, looking thoroughly confused.

I smiled. "I could ask you the same thing."

"I asked first, though."

"Today's my birthday."

He paused. "…So?"

I sighed dramatically. "So…I get to be treated like a princess today."

He rolled his eyes and walked over to the fire, sitting in almost the exact same spot where he sat the first time that we had a one-on-one conversation. He then lay down, resting the back of his head in his hands, closing his eyes.

"Okay, Princess Krystel. I went to bed really early last night, so I just woke up because I couldn't sleep anymore." He turned his head and slowly opened his eyes (GUH). "Why are you awake?"

"When I woke up and realized it was my birthday, I started jumping up and down and screaming with excitement…then Lavender and Parvati kicked me out of the dorm room. So, I came out here."

"Hmm. Okay." He closed his eyes again. "Why is it that whenever I come out here, either early or late at night, you're out here?"

"How often do you come out here early or late at night?"

Pause. "Normally, it's frequently. But, this year, it's only been this time and the one before." Another pause. "You know, that one night-"

"Oh yeah, I know." How could I not? "So…want to have a deep, meaningful conversation again?"

He sighed. "Maybe. What's a deep topic for this conversation?"

"Umm…puppies?"

He stopped. "Puppies?"

I nodded, trying to hide the smile that was creeping up on my face.

"Err…okay." He sighed. "Puppies are…cute. They like to run. And jump. And-"

"You know I was just kidding, right?" I said, and I laughed a bit. A little smile showed up on his face, too, and he just shook his head.

"So, today's your birthday, is it?" He asked, sitting up on his elbows, eyes focused directly on me.

I nodded. "Yep. The big 1-6."

"You know, you look so much older than 16."

"I get that a lot." I moved the mouse on my laptop and pushed the start button, turning it off. I then closed it and sat it down on the floor.

"I'm sure you do." He said, focusing on his toes, which he had started wiggling. He lay back down, putting his hands over his eyes, and sighed. "I am still tired."

"Then go back to bed, silly."

He shook his head. "But I'm awake now. I can't just go back to sleep."

"Why not?"

"Because."

"Because why?"

"Because it would make me feel like I have a hangover for the rest of the day."

I mock-gasped. "And how would the great Harry Potter know what a hangover feels like?"

He suddenly sat straight up. "Are you implying that I'm too good to know what a hangover would feel like?"

I felt my eyes get really big, and they darted around the room a bit. "Uhh…no, I was joking. Chill out."

"Yeah, you were…" He shook his head, running his hand through his hair. "Sorry."

"Harry, I think you just need a day where you can lay in bed and do nothing. You should do that today."

"If I did that, I'd have people coming in all day, asking me if I was okay." He rubbed his eyes again, taking off his glasses and holding them in his hands. "I'd like to, sure…but I think everyone coming in and bugging me would just make me even more tense."

I had an idea. "This will be completely random, but…would you like a back rub?"

He looked up at me, squinting a bit without his glasses. "What?"

"A back rub. You want one?" To tell you the truth, that was not something that I would normally ask anyone that I had only known for a few months, unless I trusted them immensely. And…yes, I did trust Harry a lot at that point, but, even then, it seemed like a crazy thing to do.

Which is precisely why I did it.

"Umm…what the hell, sure." He said, shrugging a bit. I was taken aback for a few seconds; that wasn't what I expected him to say at all. But, I shrugged it off, got down on the floor behind him, and started to gently massage his shoulders.

Almost immediately his head slumped down against his chest. I could feel why; his entire back was practically one huge knot. I knew the kid was stressed, but I had always figured he had someone to work out his muscles for him. Lema always massaged out my back for me, and then I would work on hers. We both had screwed up backs, and she had a really weird mattress, so she would wake up with her back and neck sore almost every day.

"Man, you're like one huge walking knot!" I exclaimed, digging a little harder into his back. "Tell me if I'm pushing too hard."

"No, you're fine." He mumbled. I could feel him breathing deeper and slower as I worked on his back. We were probably silent for most of the time, except for a few squeaks from him when I found a new knot and pushed hard on it (And, I have to say…even his _squeaks_ are hot!).

"Okay…" I said, after what seemed like an eternity, and when I couldn't find any more knots to work out, "I think that's it."

He didn't move.

"Harry? You still there?" I poked him on the back of the neck a bit.

"I don't want to move right now." He mumbled. "I feel like…if I move…then…everything will fall off, and I'll just be scattered in a pile of body parts all over the floor."

I laughed a bit. "Well, you've gotta get up and move around a bit to get the blood and such flowing back in your muscles. You know, to get the toxins out and everything."

"I think I will go back to sleep," he said, as he slowly lifted his head off of his chest. "Now I'm all drowsy." He started to rise up, but his legs started to shake a bit beneath him, so he sat back down.

"Need some help?" I offered my hand to him.

He looked up at me, and I almost was knocked off of my feet. His eyes were even greener without his glasses. There was something else that I sensed in them…almost as if he was looking at me for the first time, even though he had seen me many times for over a month. They seemed to sparkle in the little light that was in the room.

It was a rather intense moment that seemed to go on forever, even though it was only a few seconds. He blinked a few times, and then took my hand. I could see a little pink showing up on his cheeks, which only caused me to turn red.

"Thanks." He said, putting his glasses back on, and steadying himself on the armchair before starting to walk. "I think I can make it from here."

"Okay. Good night, Harry."

"Good night, Krys. Happy birthday."

I smiled. "Thanks, hon." He smiled back, and I watched him disappear up the stairs to his dorm room. I then proceeded to fall back into the conveniently-placed armchair and melt into some schoolgirl goo.

~*~

_Let's sneak out and go to Hogsmeade for your b-day. I'm feeling adventurous. _

Looking up from the note, I couldn't believe who had sent it. It was Su's handwriting, through and through. But…skip school? She didn't seem like the type. I closed my eyes, shook my head a bit, and turned around to look at her. She winked at me and continued to dice up the ingredients for our next potion, flicking a little bit of hair out of her face.

_I'll talk to you after class._ I wrote on the note, raised up my arms as if I was stretching, and discreetly tossed the note back to her. Glancing back to see if she got it, I saw her stuff it in her bag and go back to dicing.

Professor Slughorn was in the back of the classroom, looking for something from the sound of it, since we could hear things being shuffled around, pages being turned, and even the sounds of breaking glass every so often. I really liked the guy as my teacher. He seemed like a really nice guy…one of those people that you just want to sit down with, drinking coffee, talking about books and movies.

Of course, he was about 50 years my senior, but still. Seemed like a nice guy. A little disorganized, sure, but still really nice.

Finished with all of my dicing, I stretched my arms a bit, and let my mind wander…as well as my eyes. They always seemed to find their way back to Harry when we were in the same room together. This time was no exception. He was slumped over his desk, furiously dicing his ingredients, and squinting quite a bit in his book. The strange thing was, he had his fingers following the instructions, but they were following them in the margins. He looked back at the pile of stuff on his desk, then at the book, then back at the pile, shrugged, and threw the whole pile in the small cauldron in front of him. Looking back at the book, he sighed, shook his head, and leaned back in his char, crossing his arms.

I turned around and looked at my book. What he had done had been completely the opposite of what it said for this particular potion. I glanced back at him. Yep, still just sitting there. His cauldron was bubbling a little bit with some steam coming out of it. I looked back at my book, said a silent "What the hell…", and threw all of my pile in the cauldron, and sat back in my chair.

"Hey…I don't think you're supposed to do that." Neville whispered behind me.

"I feel really lazy right now. I don't feel like following the instructions." I said to him. He smiled and shook his head.

"Aha! Found it!" Professor Slughorn exclaimed from the back of the class, and then quickly rushed up to the front of the class. "So, everyone, how is the potion making going?"

"Fine, Professor Slughorn." Hermione said from the back of the room. I heard a few people (no doubt a few of the Slytherins that were in the class) snicker at her response.

"Wonderful!" He clapped his hands together in excitement. "My day just keeps getting better and better. You all probably won't care about this, but I just found a vile of the juice of a rather rare flower species that I've been trying to locate for many days. I was beginning to think I'd gone daft and left it in some strange location!"

Hermione asked if it was a certain type of flower (she said the name, but it was so out there that I can't even begin to try to pronounce it), and he said it was, and gave Gryffindor 5 points for her question. He then began going around to everyone's cauldrons to look at the potions.

It took him a while to get to Harry's, but he finally did. I watched Harry quickly close his book and put on a strained smile while Professor Slughorn praised him for his work. Gryffindor was awarded 10 more points for his outstanding potion, and Harry received a slap on the back. I choked back a laugh as he looked over at me, eyes wide, and an expression of sheer annoyed ness on his face.

"Ah, miss Koromashi." Slughorn said cheerfully as he strolled up to my table. "I always look forward to seeing what you have accomplished in my class…even if it isn't at all what we set out to accomplish." He winked at me, and I returned the gesture with a smile. "Now, let's see what we have here…oh my."

I got scared. "What, sir?"

"Oh my…well, I haven't seen this many gifted people in a Potions class in quite a while!" He blinked his eyes a bit, and then looked back in my cauldron, stirring it a bit.

"…Sir?" I had no idea what was going on.

"Looks like we have three perfect potions in this class today. Congratulations, miss Koromashi; your potion turned out exactly like it's supposed to!"

My eyes widened. I was excited…it wasn't often that my potions cooperated for me, even at Ashberry. "Really?"

He nodded. "Yes, it did. Ten more points for Gryffindor from you, young lady!" He gave me a pat on the back, and then continued on his way around the room.

I was beaming. Something hit the back of my leg right then. Leaning down, I picked the folded piece of paper up, opened it up, and read it.

_How'd you do that? – Su._

~*~

"You never did answer my question in Potions," Su said, looking through the telescope at Orion's Belt late that night. "How did you get your potion to be perfect? NO offense, but…you normally suck at making them."

I gave her a playful hit on the shoulder. "Oh thanks."

She laughed. "Seriously, though;" she started, moving to the side of the telescope, "how'd you do it?"

"Truthfully," I said, moving over to look in the telescope, "I was watching Harry (she fake coughed), and I just did what he did."

"Well, then, how'd he do it?"

I looked over the telescope out at the sky. "I have no idea. I think it was something written in his book, though…he seemed to be looking at the margins a lot."

"The margins?"

"Yeah, like the sides of the book."

She rolled her eyes. "I know what the margins are. Just made me think of something, that's all."

We sat down on one of the benches, grabbed our notebooks, and started scribbling down a few observations. "What'd you think of?" I asked her.

"Well…it's just a rumor, is all…"

"What is it?"

She sighed. "Okay." She put her notebook to the side of her and turned to face me. "I overheard my second year some older kids talking about Potions, and someone had said that they had heard that a long time ago, someone wrote stuff in their copy of _Advanced Potions_, and that, if you had it, you could make any potion that you wanted to, and it would come out perfect." She turned back and grabbed her notebook, scribbling some more on it. "Who knows if that's what it is, though."

"I'll ask him about it tomorrow, I guess." I said, going back to writing as well.

A few minutes later, we were excused from class by Professor Sinistra. Everyone else left through the main exit, but Su and I took the long way back, which took us across a small bridge type thing connecting two of the towers. Once we got in the other tower, we went down the staircase there, which brought us down near the Great Hall, and, from there, we went to our dorms.

"So, Orion is a gorgeous constellation, don't you agree?" Su said as we walked out into the open air. She stopped on the bridge and leaned up against the ledge, looking up at it.

I nodded. "Yeah, it is. It's even better out here, since there aren't any city lights or anything blocking the view of the stars."

"I always like looking at the stars here for that very reason. When I'm in Korea, I can barely see them, since we live right near Seoul, and that city is…well…huge."

"Yeah, Ashberry's in the middle of nowhere in Indiana, but it's still not as clear as this out there."

We stood there in silence for a little bit, looking up at the sky. I had always loved looking up at the stars, especially when I was a little girl. Lorissa and I, whenever I was over at her house, or she was over at mine, would go outside and look up at the stars, and both make wishes. I always wished for things like a pony or a new box of crayons or some new slippers. But, even when she was just four years old, she wished for deeper things. She wished for her parents to come back, and that they could all live together. She loved her grandmother, sure, but she always wished for a mom and a dad. Back then, my aunt Michelle hadn't told her much of what happened, just that she loved her and that she'd take care of her. Through my mom, though, I found out that Lorissa's mom (my aunt Annemarie) had gone missing when she was about two, and her father had all but disappeared off the face of the earth. Michelle eventually told Lori all of that, and it didn't seem to faze her much. But, I'm sure there was a bit more of an internal conflict than what she led on.

"Hey, Krys…do you hear that?" Su said suddenly, breaking the silence.

"What?"

"Shh. Just listen." We stood listening to the night. At first, I couldn't hear anything. Then I could just barely make out…

_"Something in the way she moves…attracts me like no other lover…"_

"Do you hear it?"

I nodded. "Yeah, I do. It sounds like…"

"The Beatles."

I nodded again. "Yeah. It sounds like 'Something'."

"That's what I was thinking." She turned to me. "Wanna go check it out?"

"Mmmhmmm. I want to know who has an LP of it, because those are worth some money now…and I've never seen one of the Beatles, anyways."

"Me neither. Let's go." She grabbed my wrist and we took off down the bridge. Getting up close to the door of the second tower, both of us pressing our ears to the wood, we could both hear it coming from inside of the tower. So, we opened the door very slowly, and quietly snuck our way into the large room.

The second tower looked just like the one that class was held in, if not a little bigger. It had never really made any sense to me that the Astronomy class was held in the smaller room, but it wasn't such a big deal that I felt like I needed to complain to anyone about it. There were telescopes in that room as well, and the large open windows.

But there was something different about this room. I had always felt it when I walked into it. I can't really describe it any other way than that it felt like something had happened here. Something_ big._ If it was good or bad, I couldn't tell. Just that something had happened in that room.

The room was filled with "Something". The acoustics in that room were outstanding; it was really doing the song some justice. I was admiring the sound quality in my head when Su yanked on my sleeve and pointed towards the far end of the room.

I focused my eyes on what she was looking at, then had to do a double take. "No way…that can't be…"

We both tiptoed over to the slumped figure at the back of the room, who was completely and totally oblivious to the fact that there were other people in the room. When we got close to them, I knew right then that I had been right.

Professor Snape was slumped in the corner of the Astronomy Tower, blaring "Something" by the Beatles as loud as the record player could play it, and from the slight smell I got as I walked closer, had been drinking, and drinking some pretty hard stuff.

"…Professor?" Su said, her voice shaking a bit.

He didn't look up. He just stared straight ahead. Looking down in his hands, I saw that he had a huge bottle of vodka in them, and that it was almost empty.

Su and I were in the presence of a completely wasted Professor Snape.

"What are we going to do?" Su looked at me, completely perplexed.

I squatted down to his level. "Don't worry…my mom got like this sometimes. I can deal with it." I nudged him on his arm. "Hey, Professor? You in there?"

He blinked a bit, and then slowly turned his head. His eyes were glazed over.

"Professor?"

He blinked again in response. He was wasted, but responsive. That was good.

"What are you doing up here?"

He turned his head back, and started to down some more vodka. I grabbed the bottle out of his hands (which wasn't that easy to do, let me tell you…he's a pretty strong guy) and put it on the bench above his head. "No, Professor, I think you've had enough."

"Why are you two here?" He slurred. "You both should be in bed."

"We were on our way back from Astronomy class when we heard someone playing music, so we came to see what was going on. And, sir, I could ask you the same thing…why are you up here?"

It was silent for a moment, except for the constant rotation of "Something". Then, with a sigh, he said something.

"It was all going to be perfect once. Then I had to go and fuck it up. Like usual. And now, fourteen years later, I still can't get her out of my head."

…Her? What? I looked up at Su, who looked equally confused.

"Okay, Professor, I think we need to get to bed now." I said, standing up again. "And I'm going to take this away for now." I grabbed the vodka bottle and held it in front of his face. He tried to grab for it, but I took it out of his reach. He was too wasted to even think about grabbing out his wand for it.

"I should take away points from you for being out this late…" he slurred out again, and then we heard soft snores.

"What are you going to do with that?" Su said, turning her gaze from the passed out Snape to the bottle.

I shrugged. "Drink it, I guess."

"You're not serious."

"No, I'm not serious. I think I'll give it to Dumbledore or something." We started to walk down the stairs and towards the Great Hall. "Then, tomorrow, when Snape's completely and totally hung over, I think I'm going to ask him about what he was talking about."

"What do you mean?"

I looked over at her. "Didn't you hear him? What he was talking about?"

She shrugged. "All I heard was that he had it all, then screwed it up…what about it?"

"He said something like, 'Fourteen years later, I can't stop thinking about _her_…' or something." I paused. "You didn't catch that?"

Su shook her head. "No, I honestly didn't. What's the big deal?"

We reached the point where we split off to our dorms, and I stopped and looked at her. "It means that, at one point, Snape had a girl. Didn't you catch that?"

"You mean, like…a girlfriend?"

I nodded. "Sounded like that to me. About fourteen years ago, he had a girl, and then messed it up, and they never worked it out."

"Eew, who'd want to go out with him?"

"That's mean."

She laughed. "Well, seriously though!"

I shook my head. "I'm just going to ask him about it later." I looked down at the vodka. "After I figure out what I'm going to do with this."

She smiled. "Well, good luck with that, hon. I'm going to bed. Good night."

She left me standing in the hallway, a bottle 1/5 full of Russian liquor in my hand, and many thought swimming in my head.

'Snape had a girl…interesting.'

**A/N: Oooo….wasted Snape! If this had been a Snape/OC story, that would have gone completely different, but, alas, it's not. Sorry. Well, hope you all enjoyed it, and I'll get the next chapter out ASAP! Thanks to everyone who reviewed the last time! LOVE YOU ALL!!!!!**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Heh…yeah, it's been a while…I'm sorry! I just finished reading Deathly Hollows (and just finished sobbing, too…), and I'm going to have to rework my story a bit…or just not go with the 7th book. *shrugs* I don't know at this point. But, as far as the 6th year goes, it can go as I planned it to, thank God…and I don't have to change much of anything. Yay. Well, here goes nothing, chapter 6!**

**Ch. 6**

I admit it: I was too afraid to ask Snape about his girl. I had walked into his class the next day, bent on asking him as soon as I got the chance about what had happened the night before in the Tower, but one look at him told me that I shouldn't cross him.

His eyes seemed more sunken in than usual, and he was sitting behind his desk, one hand on his forehead, when we all walked in. His eyelids seemed heavy when he looked up at the students pouring into his classroom. He gave a heavy sigh and stood up from his desk.

"Today, you all are going to be dealing with non-verbal spells again, as only a select few of you have been able to master it. Partner up and get to it." He sat back down; resuming the position he was in when I walked in.

I think everyone looked around at each other at that point. My eyes met Su's, and she looked utterly confused.

"So…" a brave voice came from the back of the classroom, "we're just doing what we did the other day?"

"Yes."

A few people shuffled in their seats. Su and I were the first ones to get up. The rest followed suit, and we all went to our areas to do our spells.

"Do you think," Su whispered, "that he's doing this because he doesn't want to hear anyone talk?"

"Probably." I replied, scrunching up my robe sleeves. "I bet, after last night, he has a hell of a hangover."

"What did you end up doing with that vodka?"

"It's in my room." She looked at me suspiciously. I put my hands up. "I didn't drink it! It's just in there. I still don't know what exactly I'm going to do with it at this point."

"Okay…whatever." She took her stance; wand extended, and started focusing on me.

The class seemed to go by really fast, Su and I both alternating between trying to cast spells non-verbally, but neither of us succeeding. Su did get a few sparks to come out of her wand once, but nothing more than that. When Snape dismissed the class, Su and I were getting our things ready, when we heard this:

"Miss Li and Miss Koromashi, stay here."

Su's eyes widened. My heart started beating extremely fast. I heard her swallow, and she led the way towards his desk.

Snape's eyes barely opened when he looked up at us. "What were you both doing up in the Tower last night?"

"We were on our way back from Astronomy, Professor." I said as sweetly as I could muster. I had experienced my mom having several hangovers in her day, so I knew how to handle those who were dealing with one.

"And why did you choose to head into that particular tower, when you could have taken the main exit?"

"Well," Su started, looking petrified, "we heard music, and we wanted to check it out…"

He sighed. "I could severely punish you girls for not returning to your wings after your class was finished, as you are instructed to do. However, due to the certain…circumstances which occurred early this morning, I think that it would be in both your best interests and mine to pretend that nothing took place. Do you both understand?"

We both nodded in unison, eyes wide with shock.

"Good." He waved his free hand, the one on his forehead beginning to rub it. "You are free to go."

"Thank you, Professor." I said as we ran out of the classroom.

"Did we…did we seriously just not get in trouble by Professor Snape?" Su asked once we were out of earshot.

I nodded, still in shock. "We did."

She shook her head. "Wow. That's one for the record books."

~*~

The Christmas season rolled around rather quickly. A whole bunch of Christmas trees were all over the Great Hall; a tradition on the part of Hagrid, I was told by Parvati. Mistletoe was set up everywhere as well, and all sorts of girls seemed to gather under it whenever Harry was around. I, of course, was not one of them.

Honestly. I wasn't.

Lavender and Ron seemed to be going at it every second of the day. I barely saw her without Ron's tongue halfway down her throat. The whole mistletoe situation made it even worse, since it was everywhere and all. Parvati, Su, and I practically became our own small group during that time.

I had been noticing a lot of things happening lately with three of my favorite people; Harry, Ron, and Hermione. Ron and Hermione appeared not to be speaking at all (of course, he really wouldn't be able to say anything without his tongue), and Harry had an air about him that made him seem rather lost. I had also noticed him shooting dirty looks at a kid named Dean, who was, apparently, trying to hook up with Ginny.

I didn't like that very much, but, I couldn't really say anything. Harry had known Ginny longer than he had known me, right? It really didn't matter.

Of course it mattered, though. Every time I saw him, my heart picked up its pace. I could feel my face turn a tad bit pink every time I looked into his gorgeous eyes. He was my friend, sure, but…I knew that something had happened with me.

I had definitely fallen for Harry Potter.

I didn't get to see him all that much in the weeks leading up to Christmas. I got a bunch of homework piled on me, and I used pretty much every minute of my spare time on that and that alone. Su and I alternated common rooms to do our work in, but eventually chose hers, since it seemed quieter.

Eventually, though, word of a Christmas party being hosted by none other than Professor Slughorn started getting around. The word was that one had to take somebody with them to go. I thought secretly to myself that it could be my chance with Harry.

_I've GOT to talk to you after class. – Su_

The note hit me in the leg during Potions. I looked back at Su, whose eyes were positively sparkling. I knew it had to be good. I turned my gaze towards the front of the classroom, where Professor Slughorn was absorbed in an old, worn book, whose title was completely worn off of the spine except for a Gothic-looking 'T'.

_Nah, tell me now. Slughorn's spaced._

I threw it back behind me, almost hitting Neville in the head. He whispered a "Hey!", and threw a pumpkin seed at me. Then, realizing what he had done, asked me to give it back to him, since we needed it for the potion we were making. I set it on his desk, smiled, and turned back around.

The point of the note hit my leg this time, causing me to almost let out a yelp. Making sure Slughorn was still dead to the world; I bent down and picked up the note, slowly unfolding it.

_Okay, well, here's what happened: I was sitting at breakfast, and Terry Boot was just across the table, and I swear that he kept stealing glances at me. We did catch eyes at one point, and I smiled a little bit, and he did too. But, anyways, I was about to go over to the Gryffindor table to sit with you, when he touched my shoulder and said he wanted to talk to me about something. Here's the convo:_

_Terry: Sorry to pull you out like this and all, since I know you're going over to the Gryffindor table…_

_Me: Hey, how do you know I was going there?_

_Terry: You go there every day to sit with Krystel._

_Me: Well, yeah…but you never know. I could have decided to switch it up a bit or something._

_Terry: Yeah, I'm sure…well, umm…_

_He started to get nervous at this point. I still had no idea what was going on, but I thought it was cute nonetheless._

_Me: …yeah?_

_Terry: I don't know if anyone's asked you yet or anything, but…umm…I wanted to know if you would…umm…want to go with me to…Slughorn's Christmas Party tonight…_

_I couldn't say anything, Krys. I was stunned. I'm sure that if he hadn't have said anything and snapped me back into reality, that I would have started drooling out of the corner of my mouth, it was open so much._

_Terry: (hastily, I might add) I mean, if you don't want to, that's okay, too…or if someone's already asked you or something…_

_Me: (waking up from my state) No, no one's asked me…I'd love to go with you._

_Terry: Really?_

_Me: (I nodded) Yes, I would love it._

_He smiled, and seemed extremely happy. _

_Terry: Okay then. Well…I've got to get to class, but…I guess I'll talk to you later then, Su._

_Me: (practically smiling my ass off) Okay. Bye Terry._

_OMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMG!!!!!!!!!!_

I turned around to look at Su, mouthed a 'Congratulations!' to her, and flashed her a toothy grin. She positively beamed back at me. As I turned back, I happened to notice Harry, who was…apparently…looking at me. I smiled at him, and he turned back to his potion, ears becoming a shade of pink. I had to admit, I was a little pink too.

We all had Transfiguration next, and our task was to change the color of our eyebrows.

"Make yours purple," Su said, throwing a sideways glance at me. "It would complement your red hair like none other."

"Turn yours blue then. We can walk around like losers for the rest of the day together."

She rolled her eyes, and proceeded to look at her brows very closely. "Man, I need to pluck something fierce…"

"I do too, actually." I said, inspecting my own. "Where's Lavender when you need her?"

"She's over there, I think," Su pointed absentmindedly with her free hand towards the other side of the room. "Her and Ron aren't sucking face right now, so maybe we can get her over here to do our eyebrows."

Ron had just given himself a lovely handlebar mustache, a la Snidely Whiplash from the Dudley Doright cartoon. Hermione started laughing at him, to which he made an imitation of her being overly eager to answer questions. Lavender and Parvati started cracking up, as did Su, who was also watching this happen. Hermione's eyes became glassy, and I could tell she was close to crying. I felt really bad for her, and was kind of upset that Lavender and Parvati were laughing at her. I mean, Lavender was probably laughing because it was Ron, but Parvati…I didn't think she was that mean.

I succeeded in turning my eyebrows a bright, bubblegum shade of pink, and Su turned hers a periwinkle color. We looked at each other, and cracked up. Harry had turned one of his eyebrows bright yellow, and, when we caught his eye, the three of us started cracking up. The bell rang, and Hermione darted out of the classroom. Harry turned to watch her go, and then gathered up the stuff she left behind and followed her.

"I want to go and see if Hermione's okay." I said to Su as we left the room.

"Why wouldn't she be?"

"Uhh…did you not SEE what happened in class today?"

Su nodded, looking a bit confused. "Yeah, I saw it…she made fun of Ron, and then Ron made fun of her. Don't they always act like that?"

"Su. They're not talking to each other."

She froze. "Oh. Shit, now I feel terrible. I thought it was just their normal thing."

I shook my head. "Nope."

"Okay, then, I want to see if she's okay too. Where did she go?"

"Well, I know that whenever I felt like crying at Ashberry, I always went to the girls' room…" I started, thinking back to a few times when I was frustrated, moody, or just down right angry at things that had taken place. If someone saw me leave the cafeteria and go to the right, down the hall, they knew that something was up.

"Good plan." We both made a beeline towards the girls' room, and headed inside. When we got there, we saw Hermione, on her knees, head in her hands, crying, with Luna Lovegood rubbing her back.

"Oh my God, Hermione…" I said as I dropped my stuff and knelt down beside her.

She sniffled a bit, and then looked up at me. Her eyes were bloodshot, and there were tear marks going down her cheeks. "Oh…hi…" She started wiping the streaks from her face.

"Hermione…" It was all I could say, before I pulled her into a hug. I could tell she was a little taken aback by this action, but she soon relented, and started hugging me back.

"Why are they all so mean…" I heard her mutter into my shoulder, and she started softly crying. I hugged her tighter, whispering, "I don't know, hon…boys just suck". She laughed a little, and then pulled away from me, wiping her face again.

"They do, don't they? Stupid buggers…" she said, messing with her hair a bit. I stood up and brushed off my knees. Who knew what had taken place in this bathroom through the years.

"Come on, let's get out of here." I said, holding my hand out to her. She took it, and stood up, brushing off her skirt as she did so. Luna stood up as well, gathering her stuff. I grabbed mine, and Su came over to Hermione (I had actually forgotten she was in the room, too), smiled at her, and gave her a small hug. The four of us walked out of the bathroom, Luna patting Hermione on the back.

"Oh, hello, Harry," Luna said in her vague tone. "Did you know one of your eyebrows is bright yellow?"

I looked straight at Harry, carrying almost all of Hermione's things. He looked genuinely concerned, and I waited to see what comforting sentiment he would offer to a girl who was upset.

"Hi, Luna, everyone. Hermione, you left your stuff…"

Typical guy response. I could see Su shaking her head a bit out of the corner of my eye.

"Oh yes," Hermione reached out and grabbed her things, wiping her face with her pencil case. "Thank you, Harry. Well, I'd better get going…" She mustered her best smile at all of us, and then hurried off in the direction of the common room.

"She's a bit upset," Luna started. "I thought at first it was Moaning Myrtle in there, but it turned out to be Hermione. She said something about that Ron Weasley…"

"Yeah, they've had a row," Harry said.

"Insensitive bastard…" I muttered under my breath. Harry's eyes went straight to me.

"What did you say?"

"Insensitive bastard." I said flat out. Harry seemed a bit taken aback by my forwardness. "He obviously knows nothing about girls. It's quite obvious that he likes Hermione, anyways, so he shouldn't have made fun of her like that, especially when they're in a fight." I shrugged. "That's no way to win someone over."

Harry stood there, frozen. "How did you…" he managed to get out.

"It's obvious, Harry. They both like each other, a lot, but neither of them wants to admit it." Su started. "The sexual tension is everywhere."

He shook his head. "Yeah, well…whatever."

"He says very funny things sometimes, doesn't he?" Luna randomly chimed in. "But he can be a bit unkind. I noticed that last year." She set off down the corridor, all of us watching after her.

"Umm, okay." Su checked her watch. "I've got to go anyways. I'll see you all later." Su said, waving a bit as she set off in the direction of the Ravenclaw house.

"Probably something with Terry," I said to Harry when Su was out of earshot. He and I both started walking down the corridor. "He asked her to go to Slughorn's party with her tonight. She's extremely excited."

"Well, I would figure, being that she has liked him for so long." Harry said.

"Look, umm…I know it was mean of me to say what I did about Ron, but –"

He put his hand up. "Don't worry about it. I've been trying to talk to Ron about the whole situation for a while, whenever him and Lavender aren't horizontally wrestling," I laughed, and he smiled, "but he doesn't seem to get the picture. And, I've known Ron and Hermione since I first came here. They were my first friends. I know they like each other, and, no matter how hard I try, I can't get either of them to admit it to each other."

We walked down the corridor together in silence. I could feel that it was a bit awkward for him, but I rather enjoy silence, so I had no problem with it.

"So, have you had a good term so far?" He asked, obviously trying to break the awkwardness he felt in the silence.

I nodded. "Yeah, I have…I miss Ashberry, of course, but I do like it here. Some of the professors are a bit intense, though, which I'm not used to –"

"How would you like to come to Slughorn's party with me tonight?"

I stopped dead in my tracks. He did too, and, from the look on his face, he was a little shocked from his moment of forwardness.

"The party? With you?" My head was swimming. Did I hear him right?

"Yeah," he said. "We're supposed to bring guests, so I thought you might like…I mean…" He shuffled his feet a bit. "If you don't want to, that's okay, but…"

I smiled – no, beamed – at him. "Of course, I'd love to go with you!"

He looked relieved. "R-Really? You would?"

I nodded. "Yep. I was hoping someone would ask me anyways, so I wouldn't have to fly solo…or bring Neville." He laughed a bit.

"Well, I guess I helped you then. I'll meet you in the entrance hall at eight, then?"

"Sure thing."

"AHA!" A voice screamed. Looking up, I saw we were right underneath Peeves, a poltergeist that I had yet to run into, but I had been warned of. I dreaded what was going to come out of his mouth.

"_Potty asked Kryssie to go to the party! Potty lurves Kryssie!! Potty luuuuuurves Kryyyyyyyssie!_"

He zoomed away, shrieking that nice little sentiment down the hallway.

"Nice to keep things private," Harry said, running a hand through his hair. "I'll see you later, okay?"

I nodded. "Okay." After he left, I ran off in the direction of the Ravenclaw wing, wanting to tell Su what happened before someone else did.

~*~

"Wait, so…tell me everything again." Su said as we were both getting ready for the party. She had met me in the Ravenclaw common room, and then begged to go back to the Gryffindor wing, wanting to get ready without Terry seeing her. She also had no idea what to wear or how to do her makeup. She was extremely excited.

"Okay, for the fiftieth time…Harry and I were walking away from the girls' room, talking a bit, and then he just asked me." I put a little bit of brown eye shadow on my lids, trying to even them out without looking like a total whore. "That was it."

"I can't believe it!" Parvati said, sticking curlers in her hair. Neville had asked her to the party, just to go, since they were good friends. She was rather bummed out that Seamus didn't ask her. For whatever reason, I felt a little…happy that he didn't. It was weird, since Harry, my Harry, my greeneyes, had asked me, that I felt like that. But, after she had complained to me a bit that Seamus didn't ask her, and that he wasn't even going, I realized something: I liked Seamus as well as Harry.

I needed to sort some stuff out in my head.

"So, Krys, do you think anything will happen?" Su said as she created a crease in her eyelids using a little plastic fork and some eye glue. Many Asian girls did this to open their eyes up and make it easier to put on eye shadow. I got lucky with my mom being Western, she blessed me with creased eyelids, and so I never had to deal with the whole fork thing. But, Su was such a pro at it that it only took a few seconds for her to do it.

I shrugged, and proceeded to put on some eyeliner. "I have no idea. I don't know what his intentions behind this whole thing are, so I guess I'll just have to wait and see." I smudged the lines a bit, giving them a smoky appearance, and proceeded to fluff up my hair a bit.

"Stop it, your hair looks fine." Parvati said, taking the curlers out of her hair.

"Easy for you to say, yours is pretty all the freaking time." I said, trying to smooth out a few of the frizzies that were on top of my head.

She rolled her eyes at me. "Whatever…what time is it, anyways?"

"7:49," Su replied, lining her eyes with my eyeliner.

"Damn." I said. "I gotta take off."

"But I thought you weren't meeting Harry until 8?" Parvati sounded confused.

"That's true, but I walk slow Plus, I want to make a grand entrance."

Su and Parvati giggled a bit.

"Okay, whatever." Su said, smudging her eyes like I did mine. "See you at the party then!"

"Bye guys." I said as I grabbed all of my things and headed out for the entrance hall.

~*~

I stood out in the entrance hall, fidgeting nervously with my hair, chewing on my tongue. A whole bunch of girls were in that area, lurking around, giving me glares. Word must have gotten around.

I felt a tap on my shoulder. I turned around, and was engulfed in Harry's eyes. I smiled, and said a faint "Hi."

"Hi." He said, and then looked me up and down. "You look…really nice."

"Thank you. So do you." Truth be told, he looked HOT. He had on these really nice dark green robes that made his eyes stand out even more. His hair was a little neater than usual, but still had that tousled look.

Hotness.

"So…shall we get going then?"

I looked around at all the girls glaring at me. I knew that this wasn't going to make me any new friends. "Yep, let's go, before people burn holes in me with their eyes."

He laughed, and then we went up the staircase to Slughorn's office.

~*~

I sat outside of Slughorn's office, trying to figure out what all had happened. Harry and I were being led around by Slughorn, meeting a whole bunch of people (one of them whom was a vampire…and was a little creepy), then something happened, and Snape came in the picture, then some blonde guy showed up, and then Harry went to the bathroom, leaving me all alone. I couldn't find Parvati and Neville anywhere, and Terry and Su were nowhere to be seen (I hoped that meant Su was getting some sort of action), so I just went outside in the hallway.

So, I definitely felt like Harry ditched me. It sucked. A lot. I was close to just getting up and walking away when I heard someone ask me why I was sitting outside of the party.

Looking up, I saw none other than Seamus Finnegan. I felt my cheeks get pink, no matter how hard I tried not to.

"Harry ran off…no idea where he went." I shrugged.

"Mind if I sit, then?" He said. I gestured to the spot next to me, and he sat down.

"What are you doing, wandering around?"

"Not much…decided to occupy myself while everyone else was out partying." He paused. "I'm glad I bumped into you, though. I had…wanted to talk to you all day today, but I never got the chance."

I turned to look at him. He was staring straight ahead. "You did? About what?"

"Well…" he shifted a bit, "I had originally wanted to ask you to the party, but I heard Harry beat me to it. So…I just…wanted to talk to you, is all."

I was about to say something, then I stopped. "Wait, you wanted to ask me to the party?"

"Well," His ears started to turn pink. "Yeah, I did. I was sort of pissed at Harry about it as well. I'm not sure if he noticed or not."

"I think he just meant it to be as friends or whatever." I said, not sure where this was going, but picking up on a bit of jealousy in Seamus' voice. "It wasn't supposed to be anything else."

"Nah, I knew that. I know he likes Ginny." I felt my spirits fall a bit. "It was just…a shock, I guess. He knew that –" He paused again.

"What? He knew what?"

He sighed. "He knew that I…I kinda liked you…and he went and asked you anyways. Just surprised me, that's all."

I didn't say anything for a while. I couldn't even comprehend what was happening. What did that mean, 'kinda liked' me?

"Wait. I'm confused." I finally said, breaking the silence. "He knew…he knew what?"

"Do I have to say it again? I thought one time would be enough…" Seamus replied. I couldn't help but laugh a bit.

"I guess you will, because I'm rather confused."

"I said that Harry knew that I liked you, and he went and asked you anyways, before I got the chance."

"Oh," was all I could say.

What happened next was all just a blur. What I do remember of it was that somehow, in some way, our lips met, and we kissed. A lot.

The next thing I knew, I was laying in my bed in the girl's dorm, trying to collect my thoughts. Seamus…and me…kissing…Harry…wow…Parvati.

Parvati?

Parvati!!!

I started freaking out. Positively freaking out. It was about that time that I frantically went back to my room to get my cell phone, because I needed to call Emily or DiJonay to tell me what the hell I had to do to not make this be complete and utter chaos in the morning.

**A/N: Okay, so crappy chapter…and DUN DUN DUN, Seamus! Yes, this is still a Harry/Krys story, don't worry…it'll happen…sort of. Haha! Foreshadowing! Thanks for everyone who's reviewed so far, and I promise I won't let this die again, I swear!!**


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Whee, lots of reviews and story alert ads! My inbox has been flooded with them; I swear…I'm not used to it. ^_^ Thanks everyone! You all are so amazing. I hope I can keep making this story as good as you all seem to think it is…lol. **

**Disclaimer: I haven't done this for a while, felt I should update it…I don't own really anything but the characters in here that don't appear in the HP books. No songs, no characters…maybe some of my side story lines, but…other than that, nothing. JK rules and she owns all.**

**Ch. 7**

I emailed Emily the next day, after not being able to reach anyone by phone, asking her to tell me what I should do about the whole "love triangle" Seamus had created. Or that I created. I wasn't quite sure. I just knew that every time I looked at Parvati, I felt terrible.

But then, when I looked at Seamus, I didn't feel terrible. I felt…happy. Which then made me feel even worse.

And, every time I looked at Harry, I just felt awkward.

We had about a week and a half after the party to get ready for the Christmas holiday. I was going to my dad's for Christmas; it was going to be just him and me. Everyone back home in America was going to be shipping their presents to us, due to the whole mom-not-being-there thing. After I was done with doing homework or studying or whatever was occupying me at the time (code for couple's time), I would check my email to see if Emily had replied, then go about and pack some more.

She never replied. I started chewing on my tongue and having shifty eyes every time I saw Parvati near me. I hated myself for doing what I was doing, and I knew I'd have to face it eventually. I just wanted to get Christmas over with.

"So, where are you going for holiday?" Seamus asked me the day we were to leave for break at lunch. He had taken to sit next to me since the party, which no one seemed to think was strange.

"Oh, my dad's. We're having a low-key Christmas thing." I then realized I hadn't told him about my mom. I decided to stop there with the details. "How about you?"

"Just going home, as usual. Spending the holiday with my parents." His accent made me melt. He cleared his throat a bit, and then shifted in his seat. "You know, I've been writing my mom about you."

I almost choked on my apple juice. "You have?"

He nodded. "All good things, of course."

"Better have been."

"She said she wanted to meet you. Sometime." He shifted a bit. "Is that too forward?"

I shook my head, even though I did feel it was a bit forward. "No, not at all. I'd love to meet her! You'll have to meet my dad, though…you realize that?"

"Of course."

"Okay, just making sure."

"Good morning!" Su made me jump when she slid onto the bench between Seamus and I. Catching Seamus' eye, I could tell he was not too happy about her intrusion.

"Good morning, Su darling." I tore one of my pieces of toast in half. "Haven't seen you in a while."

She started beaming. "Well…there have been reasons for that, I must say."

"Do tell." I said with my mouth full of toast. I hoped Seamus wasn't looking. I'm not attractive when I eat.

"I've been packing for my trip, mostly. Mom's taking me to Seoul for break. But," she started twirling a strand of her hair on her finger, "there is the whole Terry thing…"

I almost choked on my toast. "You loser! You haven't said a thing to me!"

She giggled. "I know. I've been hoarding information from everyone. I just can't keep it secret anymore!" She threw her arms in the air, hitting both Seamus and me in the face with the sleeves of her robes. "I'm going out with Terry Boot!"

"As in Ravenclaw Terry Boot?" Seamus asked, rubbing his eye.

She turned to Seamus and nodded. "Yep. Happened after Slughorn's party. There was some mistletoe as we were walking back to the common room, and…well," her eyes shone, "I'm sure you can guess the rest."

"You're such a loser!" I said, giving her a playful punch on the shoulder. "So much for being one of my best friends…I worked hard to get you to even talk to the boy in the first place, and you don't even tell me when you end up being an item? No way to repay your matchmaker."

"I'll buy you pocky when I'm in Korea."

"Deal." I tore off another piece of toast and stuffed it in my mouth. "Chocolate kind, okay?"

"Nah, I thought you wanted the almond. Of course I'll get you the chocolate." She looked down at her watch. "All right, I've got to go pack a bit more, then meet Terry for…well…" She cleared her throat. "I'll see you lot later?"

"'Kay. Bye Su."

She jumped up and positively skipped out of the Great Hall.

"What's pocky?" Seamus asked, taking a sip of whatever it was he was drinking.

"Little mini breadstick thingies dipped in chocolate. It's an Asian thing."

"Oh…wait, you're Asian?"

"Seamus. Koromashi. Seriously."

He turned a little pink. "Ha, yeah, I guess that would be a clue. Sorry. You don't look Asian is all."

"I'm only half Japanese, but I look almost identical to my mom. If you were to look at my dad, and then look at me, you probably wouldn't even be able to tell we were related."

"Oh, wow. My parents both have red hair. I don't know where I got my blonde from."

I smiled at him. He smiled back. Fluffy moment.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a flash of long, dark hair and dark skin. The Patil twins. Parvati.

"Uhh, Seamus, I've got to finish packing. I'll see you later today, okay?"

"Okay. See you later then." He winked at me, and I felt myself melt a bit more.

Grrr. I needed to get my head straight.

~*~

"Still no emails…" I said as I sat in a compartment on the train going back from Hogwarts. Emily still hadn't emailed me. Neither had any of my other friends. Or Lorissa. Or even my father.

I was a little worried. I at least got messages from my dad.

"What are you doing?" Seamus leaned over in his seat.

"Hey! Private!" I picked up my laptop and held it in the air. "You don't look over someone's shoulder when they're reading their emails!"

"Oh. I didn't know."

Su chuckled at his actions, and Seamus shot her a glare. She then stuck her tongue out, and looked back at the sliding doors, obviously waiting for Terry to come in.

"He'll find you, don't worry." I said, not taking my eyes off of my computer screen. I was going to my myspace page to see if anyone had even tried to contact me.

"Is this one of those…computers we learned about in Muggle Studies?" Seamus asked, wide-eyed as he watched me move the cursor around the screen.

"Aww, you're cute, Seamus." I started pinching his cheek, and then stopped. "Oh, you're serious."

He nodded.

"Sorry. I forgot…one of the differences between Hogwarts and Ashberry is that Ashberry has embraced electricity, electrical appliances, computers, and central heating and air." I typed in my password on the myspace page, then clicked log in. "Yes, hon, this is a computer."

"Wow." He watched me move the page up and down with the arrow keys. "What can you do with it?"

"Anything, really. Check mail sent through cyberspace, read people's journals, find out useful information, watch crazy videos – "

"Youtube!" Su randomly yelled. I nodded.

"Youtube's for crazy videos. You can also set up your own little pieces of cyberspace, like I did here," I showed him my myspace page, "and even look up porn!"

That caught his attention. "Porn?"

Su rolled her eyes. "Guys…"

"Yes, Seamus, porn. But, you have to be careful of what sites you go to, because some of them can infect your computer and make them slow and fall apart on themselves."

His eyes were glazed over a bit. I shook my head and went back to looking at myspace. No one had tried to get in contact with me at all. I was…disappointed, to say the least.

The door slid open, and Terry came running in. "Sorry. Took a bit to get in here." His hair was all messed up, and he seemed out of breath.

"Terry, are you okay?" Su asked as he sat next to her.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Had to run to make sure I made the train is all." He ran a hand through his hair. It made me think of Harry. He hadn't apologized to me yet about ditching me at the party. Or even tried to talk to me, for that matter. I looked out the window, and who did I see…but Harry, getting all of his stuff underneath the train. He looked up, and I swear he saw me, because he held his gaze a little longer than someone would if they were just looking up at the train windows. He looked back down at his shoes and followed Ron into the train.

"Krys, you all right?" Seamus touched my hand. I looked back over at him and forced a smile.

"Yeah, I'm fine."

~*~

"My dad should be here…" I said, standing on my tiptoes to see over the crowd of heads at the train platform.

"Did he give you a place he'd meet you?" Su asked me, also trying to scan the crowd for him, which I thought was funny, since she had no idea what he looked like.

"No, but I thought-" I was cut off by the sound of Robert Plant's screams from Led Zeppelin's "Immigrant Song", and the vibrations in my pocket. My dad was calling.

"Immigrant Song, hmm?" Su asked. She started laughing.

"Figured it was manly enough." I dug my phone out of my pocket and flipped it open. "Hello?"

"Hey, where are you?"

I started waving my free arm above my head. "See an arm waving?"

"Yeah, I do, actually. Smart move. I'll be there in a second."

"Okay." I hung up the phone.

"Can I see that?" Seamus asked, pointing at the phone.

"Uhh…sure." I gave it to him, and he started looking it over. He flipped it open, and his eyes got wide.

"There you are!" My dad yelled, and came over to me. "I was hoping I didn't miss you, or that you went home with someone else or something."

"Nope, I'm here. Got some people for you to meet. Seamus," I said, trying to take the phone away from him, "come over here."

"But…it's interesting."

"You can look at it later, I promise." He gave the phone back (quite reluctantly, actually…I thought it was funny) and stood by me. "This is Seamus Finnigan. Seamus, this is my dad." They both shook hands.

"Seamus? Irish, right?"

"Yes, sir."

"Well, it's nice to meet you, son. Who are these lovely people behind you?" Dad pointed to Su and Terry, who were standing behind Seamus.

"Oh, that's Terry Boot and Su Li. You remember Su?"

"Yes, she was the one who led you up to Dumbledore's office your first day, right?"

Su and I both nodded. "Hi, Mr. Koromashi," Su said, her voice dripping with sweetness, "Nice to see you again."

"You too, my dear. So," his gaze went back to me, "do you have all of your stuff?"

"Yeah, it's right over here," I gestured to the cart full of stuff that was near Su. "I was going to help these three find their parents, is that okay?"

"Sure. I'll be right back then, okay? I'll call you to find you."

"All right, sounds good." I turned to Seamus, and found him already waving someone down. A woman who looked no older than 26 started strolling towards us, her long, cherry red hair bouncing behind her. She seemed ecstatic when she spotted us, and started running as fast as her stiletto heels could carry her.

"Ah, Seamus, my boy!" She hugged him close to her, and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "I've missed you!"

"Missed you too, mom."

Mom? MOM??!?!

"Whoa, that's your mom?" I said, more towards Seamus than his apparent mother, but she heard it anyways.

"Yes, I'm his mother. Expecting someone different?"

"Umm…I expected someone a lot older, actually. You look fairly young to be a mother of a kid who's 16."

His mom looked straight at me, eyes glassy. "Aww, sweet thing you are. Us Averies tend to age well." She started petting Seamus' head, which made him turn a little pink in the cheeks. "Too bad for the Finnigans, though…they really don't. I hope Seamus got more my genes than his father's." She paused, as if something in her mind just clicked. "Wait, Seamus, introduce me to this wonderful girl here."

"Well, mom, this is Krystel, my gir-"

Robert Plant started screaming again. "Sorry, excuse me." I said to both of them, digging out my phone and flipping it open. "Yes, father." I said.

"Wave your arm again." He said.

I stood on my tiptoes and waved my free arm up above the crowd.

"Got it. Be there in a second."

"All right." I closed the phone and turned back to the Finnigans. "Sorry about that, my dad's coming to pick me up soon."

"It's fine, Krys." Seamus said, smiling at me. "As I was saying, mom, this is Krystel, my girlfriend."

I felt my own cheeks get hot. Now he considered me his girlfriend. And why not? We had been…something for about two weeks or so. But, it just made things that much more complicated.

…I can't say I wasn't flattered, though, and that I didn't like the idea of being Seamus' girlfriend. It just made the situation more complex than I wanted it to be.

"Ohhh, so this is the girl my boy's been raving about!" She took my hands in hers. "I've heard so much about you! My Seamus has been writing me about you for a few months now…wait." She looked behind my shoulder, and then gasped. "Blast from the past, that is."

"Stacie Avery, my God." I heard my dad's voice come up behind me, along with an increase in volume of the voices in the crowd. I didn't turn around to see what was going on. "It's been ages! How have you been?"

"I've been wonderful, Ben. Got married, settled down, had Seamus here." She pulled Seamus close to her side. He looked mortified. I smiled at him, and he rolled his eyes. "How about you? You haven't aged a bit!"

"Neither have you. You look about what you did when you came to Grace and my wedding."

"So, is this your darling child?" She pointed to me. He nodded. "Oh, she's gorgeous! I think it's so wonderful how our children are together after we were such great friends in school!"

"Wait, you and him are…" Dad looked at me confused.

"I'll tell you later, okay?" I said, patting him on the shoulder. I then turned around, and was immediately glomped.

"SURPRISE!!!!" A large crowd of people were suddenly around me. I started laughing, and tried pushing them off of me. As soon as I got them to stop attacking me, I brushed my hair out of my eyes. I then did a double take.

"No way…"

"Surprised to see us?" Emily said, grinning from ear to ear. Tim was standing right next to her, Lema behind, Gina in front, curls galore; DiJonay behind her, and Lorissa standing a little off to the side.

"Oh my God! Why…oh my God!!" I started jumping around, hugging each of them individually, then having a group hug. I then proceeded to punch my dad on the shoulder, making him go "Ow!", and interrupting his convo with Mrs. Finnigan.

"Meanie! Why didn't you tell me they were coming here??"

"I wanted to surprise you."

"Oooh, who might this cutie be?" Emily said, poking her face over her shoulder and pointing at Seamus.

"Em, that's Seamus. He's my…" He said it. I could say it. "He's my boyfriend. Seamus, that's Tim, Lema, Gina, DiJonay, my cousin Lorissa, and-"

"Emily Roberts, Krystel Janelle Koromashi's bestest friend in the whole wide world." She came out from behind me and stuck out her hand.

"Uhh…Seamus Finnigan." He grabbed her hand and shook it.

"Gasp. Could that be…and Irish accent?" Emily said, putting her hand on her heart.

"Yes. I'm Irish." Seamus replied, sounding a bit annoyed. I mouthed a 'sorry' at him for seemingly everyone asking him if he was Irish today.

"Ooo, nice! Question: can you sing?"

"Emily!" I said, looking at her.

"What? I was going to start calling you Bono and Ali if he could."

I rolled my eyes. "Don't answer that, Seamus. It's just Emily being stupid."

He smiled. "All right."

"Nice to see you again, Stacie. Stay in touch, will you? I don't want to go nearly 16 years without hearing from you again." My dad said, putting a hand on my shoulder.

Mrs. Finnigan smiled. "Of course, Ben. Before you go, I wanted to ask you if you would be all right with the idea of Krystel coming to our house at some point before they go back to school." Seamus and I both exchanged looks. From the look he gave me, he knew nothing about this, either. "Marty and I would take them back to the station when it was time for them to leave."

"Fine with me." My dad said, rubbing my shoulder a bit. "My girl's good. I trust her not to do anything stupid."

I heard a chorus of coughs from behind me, and I shot them all glares, to which they started giggling.

"All right, we'll get in touch during the holiday and figure out how it will all work. Nice to see you again, Ben, and nice to meet your darling daughter."

"Same here, Stacie."

Mrs. Finnigan started pulling Seamus along by the wrist, forcing him into a bit of a trot. I waved at him, and he mouthed "I'll write", before he disappeared into the crowd.

"So, let's blow this popsicle stand, shall we?" My dad said to the crowd behind me. We all thought that was a good idea, so, Dad leading the way, we squeezed through the crowd and made our way to whatever clown car my father brought that could hold that many people.

~*~

"You didn't get any of my emails, then?" I asked Emily as we were sitting on my kitchen table, digging chocolate ice cream out of a huge tub my dad bought before we all came. Everyone else was scattered around the house, sleeping. I could just make out Tim's snores from up the stairs.

"Nope," she replied, mouth full of ice cream. "None of them. Your dad actually had Tim do something to lock up my account so I wouldn't be able to access them, since he knew I'd let the whole 'Christmas surprise' out of the bag." She plunged her spoon back in the chocolate. "He knows me and my mouth too well."

I laughed. "That's true."

"Why do you ask?"

"Well…" I got some more ice cream on my spoon and stuck it in my mouth. "I've got an issue with Seamus."

"Seamus? The boyfriend?" She tucked some of her blonde hair behind her ears. "You all haven't been dating for that long, have you?"

I shook my head. "Only two weeks or so."

"There's a problem already?"

I dug around the outside of the tub with my spoon, getting some of the more melted ice cream. "There kind of was a problem, even before it started."

She sighed. "Go ahead caller, I'm listening." She was my Frasier.

I then just spilled it all. I told her about Harry (to which she was ecstatic that I knew him, and it took a bit to get her to calm down about it), and how I felt about him, and how he felt about me, and how he felt about Ginny (grr), and Seamus, and how I felt about him, and Parvati, and how she felt about him, and how it just complicated everything.

"I don't know what I'm going to do." I sighed. "I mean, I like Seamus and all, but…"

"He's not necessarily the one you want to be with." She stuck some more ice cream in her mouth. "You want to be with him, sure, but he's not 'the one you want to be with'. You know what I mean?"

"…Not really."

She laughed. "Okay, I'll try to explain it again." She paused, apparently collecting her thoughts. "All right. You like Seamus, and are very happy to be his girlfriend, correct?"

I nodded.

"But, then there's the whole thing about Parvati, and how this could make things really tense between the two of you, right?"

I nodded furiously.

"Okay. But, then there's also the thing of that you like Harry better than Seamus, and that, even though Harry, as far as we know, doesn't feel exactly the same about you as you do him, you want to be with him more, and that you feel like you'd be cheating Seamus out of a good relationship if it kept going." She stopped, scooping up some more ice cream. "Am I right?"

"Hit the nail right on the head." I sighed, and sort of laughed at myself. "What the hell am I going to do?"

"Well, whenever Seamus contacts you, and you go and see him over the break, have a deep talk with him about the whole situation, and you both can figure out what it is you're going to do about it."

A question just popped into my head. "How long are you all going to be here?"

"Ah, only through Christmas and two days after. We're leaving on the 28th, I guess. Ashberry's starting back up early this year. Only get a week and a half off."

"That's bull."

"Tell me about it. The whole student body's pissed off." She stuck her spoon in her mouth. "But," she said, pausing to wipe up some of the chocolate dribble that had escaped from her mouth, to which I pointed and laughed at her for, "the administration said they were going to give us that huge rock n roll show that we did two years ago again, as an end of the year treat."

"Seriously?"

She nodded. "Too bad you won't be there and all…it would have been great to reunite Winnie and the Poohs."

For an end of the year thing, Ashberry let the entire student body pick what they would want the administration to sponsor. The poll was at the very beginning of the year, and it included everything from an all – day pool party to traveling to one of our sister schools in America and seeing the countryside. Us choir nerds suggested a rock concert, but not just any rock concert; a concert put on by a group of students within the school. Me and my choir buddies had practiced off and on in a group that was unnamed at the time (and included Emily and Tim, along with Gina on the tambourine for our Beatles tunes, and Lema on the keyboards), so we signed up for the audition. Out of the 30 or so groups that auditioned, we were chosen to play.

We rehearsed like crazy during that school year; pulling songs out of the air and learning how to play them. Tim and I traded off doing the vocals, him singing the songs that were too low for me, and me singing the high stuff and the songs sung by girls. We narrowed our set list down to about an hour and 45 minutes, and then went on at the end of the year, bringing the house down. Our band name was decided about two minutes before we actually went on, all because Emily was wearing a shirt with Pooh on it. Tim was the mastermind behind the name.

Everyone had told us that we had to play "Let's Go Crazy" by Prince, since that song has been Ashberry's unspoken theme song since it came out. We deliberately saved it for last, so we could bring the house down. By the end of it, people were starting to chant "Go crazy!" after every song we played.

We acted like we were done, and told the people to turn down the lights. The crowd started to mumble, and then the mumble started to crescendo. Before it turned into yelling and screaming, I cued Lema to do the keyboard chord for "Let's Go Crazy", and spoke into the microphone, "Dearly beloved…"

The crowd went nuts. It was pretty much one of the best moments of my life.

Wow, major side tracking. Figured I should explain that whole thing before I went on with the story, though, since no one would have understood the joke. Anyways, back to the story that you all want to read…

"Maybe I could make a special appearance or something." I said, flipping my hair back behind my shoulder. "You know, depending on when I get out of school and all."

"If you get out in time, that would be pretty much one of the most awesome things ever." She smiled.

"I know, right?" I scooped up more ice cream and shoved it into my mouth. "So, Em, you never did tell me what your boy problems were about all those months ago, since Tim shut off your email or whatever."

She shook her head. "Oh, God…do we have to get into that?"

"Come on, I dished. You must dish as well."

Emily sighed. "Okay. I…I kind of have a thing for…Michael Penhollow."

"Penhollow?" I started laughing.

"Oh, don't even! He's sweet."

"You were right, I don't believe it!" I said through my laughs. "Penhollow? _Penhollow??_ Only the kid who threw up on your shoes our 3rd year?"

"That was 3rd year. Besides, the food was bad that day."

"So they said." I brushed under my eyes, catching a few little tears that were sprouting up. "Why him?"

"Well…he got contacts this year…"

"Whoa, really?"

She nodded. "Yeah, he did. And…you know how much I like Steve Martin, right?"

Understatement: Emily was HEAD OVER HEELS for Steve Martin. "Yeah."

"Well…if he were to dye his hair gray…he would look like a really young version of Steve Martin." She sighed, looking out the kitchen window. "He's funny like him, too."

"Oh?"

"Yeah. We watched Annie Hall together the other day."

"Whoa! He likes Annie Hall?"

She smiled. "Yep. Hardcore Woody Allen fan."

I shoved my spoon in the tub. "Who knew?"

"I know, right?"

I shoved my face with ice cream. "So, what's the trouble?"

"He has a girlfriend already."

I almost choked on my ice cream. I swear, I never choke on anything. Ever. "Penhollow's got a girlfriend?"

She nodded, looking out the window again.

"Who?"

"Lema."

"Oh, God…have you talked to her about it?"

She shook her head. "No. She doesn't know that I like him. Truth is…I don't want her to know. I don't want to end up in your situation." She paused. "No offense, of course."

"None taken, my dear." I sighed. "So…what are you going to do?"

She looked at her spoon. "I think I'll put this in the sink to start with, and then go to bed, and try to figure all of that out in the morning. This ice cream is having the opposite effect on me that sugar is supposed to have. I'm dead tired now."

"Okay, sounds good. I'll stick this back in the freezer then."

"All righty." We stuck our spoons in the sink, and I stuck the tub in the freezer. Emily grabbed a glass from the cabinet, and filled it up about half way with water from the front of the fridge. She took a drink, and then made a face.

"Eew, London water tastes weird."

"You're just used to Indiana water. Go to bed."

"Okay. Night, Krystel."

"Night, Em." I walked up the stairs as she made her way over to one of our mattresses that we put out. Tim was sleeping in my bed, and I had claimed a mattress on the floor in my room. Now I had wished that I had chose somewhere else to sleep, since Tim was making it sound like a freight train was about to hit the house.

"Tim. Tim. Wake up." I started poking his shoulder. Nothing happened. I sighed, picked up one of my pillows, and smacked him in the face with it, full force.

"I didn't steal your posies!" He yelled as he shot up, and then started rubbing his face, trying to figure out where he was, and what had just happened. He then saw me, holding the pillow, grinning like a madwoman.

"What the hell was that for? I was having a perfectly good dream, and you hit me in the face with a pillow."

"You were snoring. It was starting to shake the walls."

He rolled his eyes. "Whatever. I don't snore that loud."

"The picture frames in here were shaking," Gina shouted from down the hall. "If I didn't have my earplugs with me, I'd be attacking you, too."

I gestured down the hall towards Gina. "There you go."

"Aww, well, I'm sorry, princess, that my manly duty of snoring as loud as I can has upset you and your way of life. Please forgive me." He rolled over on his side, pulling the covers up closer around him.

I picked up the covers that were left and crawled in next to him. He flipped over, looking a bit confused, but not all that surprised that I did that.

"Tim, what did you do when you found out that Dylan was available again, but you were still with Gary?"

His expression suddenly fell. "Krys, you know I don't like talking about Dylan…"

"I know, honey, I know, but it's really important." I sighed. "What…what was your thought process behind all of it?"

He rolled on his back, staring up at the ceiling. "Well…Gary and I had been together for a while, like you know, but I still loved Dylan. I supposed that will never go away." He paused, taking a few deep breaths. "But, Dylan was with Sherry, and I knew that if I made any advances at Dylan while I was with Gary, and while Dylan was with Sherry, that it would make things that much more complicated."

"But…you did anyways?"

He laughed sadly. "Yeah, I did. And it ended up screwing up both my relationship and his." He looked over at me. "It's a lot easier being straight than gay…or even bi…when it comes to relationships and friendships. Sherry had no idea that Dylan was bi. She wouldn't talk to him for almost a year afterwards. Thought that she had tainted her reputation by being with a 'gay boy'."

"Tim…I'm kind of in a weird situation right now."

He looked over at me suddenly. "Are you bi?"

"Come on, Tim…almost every girl has a little bi in her." He laughed at that. "It's not that."

I then explained to him what was going on, and why I thought he might give me some answers.

He sighed, and didn't speak for a while. I got a little worried; I thought that I had made a big mistake by bringing Dylan up. Tim was still really sensitive about him and Dylan's break up.

"Hon…I wish I knew what to tell you, but, honestly, I don't. All I can say is…if you value your friendship with Parvati, tell her what is going on, and don't keep it from her anymore. And, if you feel like you're not being totally truthful with Seamus, let him know. There's no need to keep him in the dark."

I sighed, looking up at the ceiling. "That's kind of what Emily told me to do, too. But, I figured you'd know more about this area than I or she would, even though she pretty much is my Dr. Frasier Krane."

He laughed really loud, causing Gina to groan loudly in protest. We both said a "Sorry, Gina!" down the hall, and giggled silently. "Yeah, Em does have that effect on people, but they normally call her Dr. Phil. I guess Dr. Krane's for the more intellectual group."

I smiled. "Thanks, Tim."

He smiled back at me. "No problem, kiddo. I don't know if I even really helped you or not…"

I pulled him into an awkward hug, considering we were both laying in bed and all. "You did, don't even think you didn't."

"All right. If you say so."

"Get some sleep, you freight train."

He pushed me out of the bed onto my air mattress. "You are now denied access to my bed."

I threw one of my little pillows on my nearby chair at him. "It's my bed, loser."

"It's mine for right now. Muahahaha." He made an evil laugh, then rolled over on his side again and pulled the covers tighter around him.

"Night, Tim."

"Night, Krys."

**A/N: Okay, I think I'll stop here for right now. What will Seamus and Krys talk about when she stays with him? What more will she learn about the whole Emily/Lema/Michael Penhollow love triangle? Will Parvati find out about her and Seamus? Will Harry come back in the story line as the love interest at all? And, what's the deal with Snape? Where did he go from the plot line? Find out more as the story progresses…**

**I'll try and make the chapters shorter. They just keep getting longer. I'm sorry. :.(**

**Thanks to everyone who has reviewed so far!**


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: It's been a while, I know. Please – spare me the "it's been forever" comments. I've been dealing with lots of homework, college applications, and scholarship applications. I do have good news – I got into the school I wanted to go to! I'm all set to go there in the fall. I'm pretty excited.**

**Okay, so….I love you guys! Here's the chapter! Enjoy!**

**Ch. 8**

"I feel terrible because I haven't gotten you guys anything yet," I said, looking around at my friends' faces as they held out little boxes for me. It was Christmas morning, and we were all sitting on my living room floor, right next to the tree that my dad put up.

"Well, it was kind of a surprise for us to show up here, you know." Lema said, putting her little purple colored box next to my knee.

"I know, but…" I looked around at the boxes, and then everyone. "I feel like I'm being greedy if I just take them and don't give you stuff back."

"Goddamn, Krys, just take the freaking boxes and ship us our presents later." Tim said, practically throwing his blue box at me.

The rest followed suit, and soon I was being pummeled with small square boxes. I fell backwards in a heap, and Emily and Gina decided that was a prime time to jump on me and tickle me everywhere. I'm extremely ticklish; and they know it.

"What is going on down there?" My dad hollered down the stairs, sleep still hanging in his voice.

"Nothing!" We all said simultaneously, and then quietly giggled.

"Open the presents," Tim said, slowly wiggling his fingers near my knee, "Or I'll attack."

"Fine, fine!" I said, holding up my hands in surrender. "I'll open them."

My friends know me very well, I must say. DiJonay gave me Ciara's new CD, Gina got me a copy of the Chicago soundtrack (which I had been dying to own since I saw the movie), Lema bought me the best of Bryan Adams, Tim gave me copies of both Pleasantville and Garden State, and Emily bought me The White Album (yay Beatles). If you're wondering where Lorissa was, it's not a mistake in my memory – she was still sleeping at the time.

Needless to say, I was a happy camper.

"Oh my goodness, thank you guys," I said, throwing my arms around all of them in a huge group hug.

"Wait, we're not done yet," Tim broke off the hug and went over to the stairs. He then emerged again with a small cardboard box, which he set on the floor in the middle of all of us.

"I've got something to give to everyone that's been 2 years in the making." He opened up the box and gave us all thin boxes that looked alarmingly like DVD cases.

"It's about time," Emily said when she opened hers, "I was wondering when you were going to finish this!"

I opened mine, and, staring back at me, was the outlandish "band photo" we had all taken our 4th year for our end-of-the-year concert. Tim, being the mastermind behind the band itself, had either taken all of the footage himself, or asked DiJonay and various other students from around Ashberry to shoot footage for a This Is Spinal Tap – type rockumentary.

"Oh, God, I forgot how terribly corny this picture was," Gina said, patting down her hair. "Why did you have my hair teased up again?"

Tim crossed his arms and smiled. "It was for effect."

"Well, it was a terrible effect. I look like a freaking poodle."

"You always look like a poodle, honey." Lema then squeaked as Gina threw a piece of discarded wrapping paper at her.

"Okay, I've only watched this once," Tim said, as he opened his own copy and started scooting towards the home entertainment system in the middle of our living room, "but it looked pretty damn good when I watched it, so I think you guys will like it."

Emily, Gina, Lema, and DiJonay all sat on the couch, while Tim and I sat on the floor. Emily put her feet on my shoulders, to which I immediately swatted them away. Tim pressed play on the remote, and our 15 minutes of fame began.

~*~

"You really need to keep this thing in tune, you know," Tim said, trying to tune my red guitar, and getting frustrated with how flat it had become.

I pushed some of my hair over my shoulder and looked out one of the windows in my dad's sunroom. "Well, considering I haven't touched it since September, it probably would be out of tune by now."

"Oh, yeah, there is that." He played the low E and the A strings together, then tightened up the A string to match the A he was playing on the E. "You know, it's a lot easier to do this with a tuner."

"I know. I just don't know where it is." I got up and closed the sunroom door, so no one would start yelling at us for making noise. It was about 12:30 in the morning, day after Christmas, and everyone else was asleep, tired out from the Christmas festivities. Tim and I, still awake and raring to go, decided to go out in the sunroom for some chatting time. He grabbed my guitar on the way down the stairs.

"There, all in tune." He strummed a G chord, and then closed his eyes, absorbing the perfectness of its sound. "Lovely." He then tuned it back down a bit, and started plucking out something that I vaguely recognized, but couldn't place.

"Like so many girls, Jenny Wren could sing, but a broken heart took her song away…" Tim softly sang.

I sat on one of the wicker couches out in the room, staring out at the backyard and the stars. My mind started to wander, but not to what or whom I had wanted it to wander. Harry came into clear focus behind my eyes. I started to wonder what he was up to, how his holiday had been. Things like that. I wondered if he had thought about me. I wondered if I had even crossed his mind at all.

"So, have you thought about what you're going to do with your situation?" Tim snapped me out of my reverie. I hadn't even noticed he had finished the song.

I sighed. "A little, I guess…" I ran a hand through my hair, looking back out the window again. "I know what I have to do, I just…don't know when I'm going to be able to do it."

"Aren't you going to see Seamus later this break? After we all leave?" He started absentmindedly picking out "Stairway To Heaven".

I nodded. "Apparently, but I haven't heard any word from Seamus." I hadn't heard any word from anyone from Hogwarts, I then realized. Not even Su, which surprised me.

"Hmm." He stopped playing, got up from his seat, and went over to sit by me. My gaze shifted to him. "Let's get off the subject. I miss jamming with you." He smiled a devilish smirk at me. I rolled my eyes.

"God, Tim, are you kidding? I haven't really sung since I left Ashberry."

"It'll be a good exercise for your voice then." He strummed a G chord, then a D chord, then a G again. "I've heard you when you rock, and I've heard you when you suck." To that I stuck my tongue out at him.

"I don't know…"

He flashed his puppy dog eyes at me, and I couldn't resist. He has pretty eyes as well.

"Fine. I'll sing with you."

"Yay!" He clapped his hands together, and then strummed the guitar openly. "What do you want to sing?"

I shrugged. "You pick something."

"Okay. How about…Across The Universe?"

"Fiona Apple style, right?"

He made a face at me. "You know I wouldn't try to make you sing any lower that that. I'm not that cruel."

I smiled. "All right. Play away."

He played, and I sang. We ended up staying out there for about two hours. It felt good to be able to sing again. I could feel my voice protesting at first, trying to hit the lower notes that Fiona sang, but, eventually, it let go, and it all flowed. We went through "Caring Is Creepy" by The Shins, "Flood" by Jars of Clay, "Head over Feet" by Alanis Morissette, "All Along The Watchtower" by Bob Dylan, "Acoustic #3" by the Goo Goo Dolls, "Comfortable" by John Mayer, "Only Hope" by Mandy Moore (done with the guitar from the Switchfoot version), "Back 2 Good" by Matchbox 20, and an acoustic version of "A Sort Of Homecoming" by U2, the guitar totally improvised by Tim, since he didn't have any sweet effects to make the song sound like itself.

After the last tones of Homecoming rang out, and the song had finished, I proclaimed that I was tired, and that I was going to go to bed. He agreed, and we both headed up the stairs towards my room.

"Good night." Tim said as he crawled into my bed.

"Night," I said, crawling into my makeshift bed.

About an hour and a half later, as I had just drifted into a nice sleep, and Tim was softly snoring, I heard a loud tapping at my window. I groaned and put my pillow over my head.

"What the hell is that?" Tim mumbled, turning over to look at me.

I groaned in response.

"Whoa." I heard Tim get up and walk over to my window, open it, then close it a few seconds later.

"Krys, I've got an owl on my arm." I took the pillow off of my head and looked up at him. Sure enough, there was a snowy white owl, perched on his arm, looking at me. It had an envelope tied to its leg. "I think someone really wants to talk to you right now."

I sighed, got up, and untied the envelope from its leg. Ashberry used its own postal system, but some parents delivered things by owl to show off a bit. I emailed everyone I wanted to talk to, so I never had a use for an owl.

I grabbed a cheese cracker from the box that was sitting next to my bed (apparently, Tim got hungry at one point or another) and gave it to the owl. It ate it happily.

I opened up the envelope and pulled out the letter.

_Krystel – _

_I miss our late night/early morning conversations. Write me back. I'm bored._

_- Harry_

I stared at the letter. "Pen."

"Huh?" Tim scratched his head, half asleep.

"I need a pen." I started to frantically search for a pen. "Where's a pen?"

"Uhh…," he looked around, then pulled one from my desk. "Here you go."

I took it from him. "Thanks." I sat down and scribbled something out that resembled _"Write me back in the morning, got company and I'm sleeping," _tied it onto the owl's leg, then let it out the window, where it flew off into the night.

"Hogwarts uses owls, don't they?" Tim nudged me off of my bed gently and grabbed the covers, pulling them up to his ears when he was under them.

I tapped him with a pillow for pushing me off my bed, and then crawled under my covers. "Yeah, they do. Dad decided not to get me one since you hotwired my computer. He figured it would be useless to get me an owl if I was just going to keep in contact over email. Plus," I smiled a bit, "can you imagine how tired that poor bird would be, flying over the Atlantic all the time?"

Tim mumbled something, and then started to snore again.

I closed my eyes and rolled over, thinking vividly of Harry, and the fact that he wrote me a letter.

I fell asleep thinking of green eyes.

~*~

The house was empty two days later. Dad and I took everyone to the airport and saw them off. I then got dropped off at the house, and Dad proceeded to speed off, telling me as he nearly pushed me out of the car that he had to go to the Ministry to do something or other.

I went inside, threw my purse on the kitchen table, hopped on the couch, and turned the TV on. I lay there, watching the shapes on the TV fly by, not really paying attention, or even registering what it was I was feeding my brain, hoping to hear the little taps on the window I was aching to hear.

There they were. I thought I had psyched myself out by wishing I heard them, but, looking out the front door window, I saw that the taps actually did come from an owl. It wasn't snowy white, though; it was more of a sandy color.

I got up and opened the front door, letting the owl in. It obediently perched itself on the stairs railing. I untied the envelope from its leg and inspected it. It was a completely different stationary than what Harry had used, and seemed to be rather old.

Opening it, I found a letter and what appeared to be a small four leaf clover, dried up a bit at the bottom of the envelope.

I smiled. Seamus.

_Dear Krystel, _

_Hello! I hope holiday has been going well for you so far. My mom keeps bugging me about you coming over to spend some time with us, so I was wondering if you would be interested in coming on Saturday. We would take you to the train station and all of that, so you would have to bring all of your things…but we would love to have you. Let me know as soon as you can. Keep Pattie as long as you wish; she's a well behaved owl, and she won't be a disturbance at all. She likes cheese and turkey._

_I picked this four leaf clover this morning from our back yard. No, Ireland isn't covered with them, like people seem to think. I've only found five in my entire life, this one included. I thought you might like it._

_Write back soon. Miss you._

_~ Seamus_

I looked up at Pattie, who was looking right at me with her beady black eyes. I petted her head, and she moved her head to reach my hand like a cat would do.

"You'll have to stay here until my dad comes back," I said while petting her, "but I don't mind. You do seem nice." I left her perched, and went in the fridge, pulling out a good old Kraft single. I opened the plastic and tore off a hunk, giving it to her. I then tore off a piece for myself.

She ruffled her feathers and started preening a bit. I stood there, eating my cheese. It wasn't an exciting moment by any means, but it was a peaceful moment. I hadn't had one for a while.

~*~

"Are you sure you have everything?" Dad asked me for the fifth time. We were standing outside of the van, looking at all of my stuff inside of it. It was excruciatingly early in the morning, but we had a long trip ahead of us.

"Yeah, Dad, I have everything. Schoolbooks, clothes, laptop, shoes, pillows, a blanket, toothbrush and stuff like that – "

"Passport?" He asked, raising his eyebrow.

I pulled it out of my purse and waved it at him. "Got it right here."

"Good girl." He slid the van door closed, then hopped in the driver's seat. I went in the passenger's seat and put my purse on the floor, settling in for the drive.

"You know, if I was still in America, I could be the one driving right now," I said once we were on the road.

He sighed and smiled. "That's a scary thought."

"Hey!" I punched his arm. "I'm a good driver, thank you. I do have my permit, you know."

"Yeah, you do…but I'm not so sure you could deal with driving on the opposite side of the road. It took your mom a good while to get used to it when we lived here."

"She told me about that once. She said it freaked her out." I gathered my hair up and pulled it into a ponytail, then looked out the window. "She kept trying to go into the left lane to pass, which would have put her off the road."

Dad laughed a bit. "I remember that. I kept yelling at her that she had to pass on the right, but she kept trying to go to the left. She was getting so scared that we had to pull over, and I had to drive." He sighed, and it looked like he was about to say something, but was holding it back.

"What is it?"

"It's just…," he sighed, glancing out the window, then looking back at the road, "sometimes I wish things could have worked out with your mom and me." He passed someone on the road. "I feel terrible that I wasn't there when," he paused, "you know. Everything happened."

I shook my head. "You shouldn't want to have been there. It wasn't a good sight."

"I know, but…something just gnaws at me, every time I think about it, saying that I should have been there."

This was the deepest conversation I had ever had with my dad.

"And," he added after he paused for a bit, "someone your age should not have to bear the burden of something like that. If not for my own well being, I should have been there for you."

"Thanks Dad."

"Have you…have you heard anything about her?"

I shook my head. "Nope. I have heard nothing from grandma, or from Aunt Michelle. Lorissa didn't even know anything."

"Hmm. I'll have to call your grandmother and find out."

"How long is this drive, anyways? Not to change the subject," I added, "I'm just curious."

I could see the gears in his head start to turn as he thought it all out. "Well, we're driving from London to Holyhead in Wales, then catching one of the ferries to Dublin, and then going from there." He smirked. "You'll be stuck with me for a while, kiddo."

I sighed loudly, flung back in my seat, crossed my arms, and made an angry face. "I don't want to be stuck with you. I don't like you."

He started reaching out his hand to tickle me, wiggling his fingers as he did so. Giggles escaped me before I could even hold them back. "Okay, okay, I like you, I surrender!"

"Ha, ha, I am victorious." Dad and I exchanged glances, and then smiled at each other. He then reached over to the radio and turned it on. He had had XM radio installed, apparently, and it was set on one of the classic rock stations. T-Rex's "Bang A Gong (Get It On)" was playing out of the speakers.

I settled in for an interesting and enjoyable ride.

~*~

"It's amazing I even know how to walk anymore, after that long-ass car ride," I said as I collapsed on Seamus' bed. I had finally arrived at his house, after the longest car ride of my life (London to Holyhead), complete with an even longer ferry ride (Holyhead to Dublin, with an hour and a half wait to catch the ferry), and a shorter, but still rather long, car ride to get to Seamus' house, which was located just outside of Limerick.

"Why didn't you just Apparate or use Floo or something like that?" Seamus asked, looking a little confused.

I shook my head. "Who knows? I think my dad just wanted some bonding time or something. And, there was a lot of that." I sighed. "It actually was nice, just the two of us, being able to talk and stuff."

"Sounds like it would have been." He came over and sat next to me on his bed. "I've missed you, you know."

I felt my cheeks get a little pink. "Aww, well, thanks hon. I've missed you too."

What happened next, I'm not going to tell, because I feel like I should keep it private. No, it wasn't that. Goodness, reader, you and your dirty mind…I just don't feel like laying it out on the table for all of you. Sorry.

Let's skip to later that night, shall we?

"I can't believe we only have two more days of our vacation left," Seamus said, playing around with my cell phone. I still thought it was really cute how fascinated by it he was. He practically pounced on me when I took it out to look at who had texted me. It was Emily, just saying hello. I texted her back, saying hello, and that I was with Seamus.

The text alert went off on my phone, and he jumped, practically dropping the thing.

"It's funny how a man only thinks about the beep…, from Emily." Seamus read the text message aloud. "What the hell does that mean?"

I laughed and rolled my eyes. "It's a line from a Pussycat Dolls song. Emily's teasing me about being over here. She thinks you're going to try something on me."

"Oh." He handed me the phone, a strange look in his eyes. "Krys, there's actually something I've been wanting to tell you, but I'm not sure how to say it."

I paused. "What is it?"

He looked down. He seemed rather nervous. I was thinking it could be two things; either he was going to break up with me, or say he loved me.

Of those two choices, I was hoping it would be the first one.

"Well…Krys, I like you and all," he sighed, "but I don't think we can keep going."

First one. "I don't think we can, either, Seamus."

He looked up at me, eyes showing confusion. "Wait, what?"

I wanted to smile, but I tried to keep a straight face, for his sake. "I like you too and all, but I don't think we should keep going either."

"Really?"

I nodded. "I haven't really been completely honest with you this whole time. I…umm…kind of really like someone else."

There was a strange pause. Seamus' eyes lit up. "I kind of do, too."

My smile broke through. "You do?"

He nodded. "Yeah, I do."

"Who is it?"

He looked down, his face starting to turn red. "Umm, Parvati."

Bells went off in my head. "Seriously? You like her?"

"Yeah…"

"Perfect!" I clapped my hands in happiness. "She really likes you!"

"Really?"

I nodded. "Yeah, she does. I was so afraid to tell her that you and I were together, because I knew she would hate me. So this makes everything perfect!"

He ran a hand through his hair, obviously excited. "Okay, wonderful. I'll have to talk to her when we get back to school."

I smiled even more. They both liked each other, and now they were going to be together. They were both going to be so happy.

"So, who is it that you fancy?" Seamus brought me out of my reverie.

"Oh." I suddenly felt really uncomfortable. "It's Harry."

Awkward pause. "He's kind of with Ginny…"

"I know that." I said. He made me think of the caller on the Mr. Obvious show on Bob and Tom – 'I never made the connection. Thanks, Mr. Obvious, you're a life saver!'

Another awkward pause. "Don't feel bad or anything, Seamus," I smiled, "there's nothing either one of us can do. You and Parvati should be happy. Don't worry about me."

He smiled at me, but I could see something – was that pity? – in his eyes. "So, are we still friends and all?"

I nodded. "Of course we are!"

"Good." He stood up. "Now, show me how to use that computer thing of yours. It looks interesting."

"You just want to look at porn, don't you?"

His face started getting red, and he ran out of the room.

"You're so dirty, Seamus!" I got up and chased him around his house. I felt more free being his friend again. I was also rather excited for him and Parvati. She deserved a guy like him.

My situation, I wasn't quite sure about. I didn't know what I was going to do. From what Seamus said, it sounded like Ginny and Harry were now, officially, 'Ginny and Harry'. So, I couldn't say anything to Harry about how I felt. Plus, if I did, Ginny wouldn't like me too much.

I figured I'd wait until we all went back to school. I could sort it all out then.

Only two more days left of vacation.

Then I could sort it all out.

'…This is gonna suck balls.'

**A/N: Okay, that chappie is done. I have to go shovel the sidewalk now (it snowed like…3 inches last night), so I can't keep writing. But, go ahead and review and such, and I will jump back into this as soon as I can!**


	9. Chapter 9

**Ch. 9**

I'm not going to lie; I was nervous about going back. Being that Seamus and I had broken up only a couple of days before, Parvati probably didn't know that fact. I was almost sure that the news of us being together would have reached her ears over break. I knew she wouldn't be too happy.

And, plus, I really did not want to endure the wrath of Parvati Patil. Do you know how scary that would be? Man, I get chills just thinking about it.

Seamus knew that I was worried, so he promised that, if he could, he would straighten everything out with Parvati before she saw me. I was rather grateful for that. Once again, wrath of Parvati? Not something I wanted to deal with.

"Hey guys!" Su said, marching into our compartment. She looked completely happy; she was wearing a rather nice black BoA shirt, some rather low-cut jeans (seriously, they were LOW), and these bright green pumps that I wanted to steal off of her feet. Her black hair had a few bright green streaks in it as well. She also looked a little tanner.

"Hey hon," I said, hugging her and helping her get her crap in, "how was your trip?"

She flipped her hair behind her shoulder. "Oh my God, it was absolutely amazing! I mean, I've been to Seoul before, sure, but that trip…I don't know. There was something different about it." She stuffed one of her three bags in the overhead area. "I don't think I've ever had that much fun with my mom before! It was like we were both teenagers!"

"I'm glad you had so much fun!" I said as I stuffed another one of her bags overhead. She kept one of them out and plopped down in the seat across from Seamus.

"So how was your vacation, you lovebirds?"

Seamus and I looked at each other, both of us cracking a smirk. "Oh, well, you see," I started to explain, "we kind of broke up over break."

"WHAT?!" Her eyes became huge. "Are you serious? Why? What happened?"

"It was a mutual thing, Su," Seamus started, "we both talked about it, and we both decided that we had stronger feelings for other people than each other. So we broke it off."

"Oh…" She was quiet for a while. "So, are you guys still friends then?"

We both nodded.

"Thank God! That would have been so awkward."

Seamus and I exchanged a glance, and then giggled. It would have been awkward had it not worked out the way it did. I was glad that he and I could stay friends. I've always had difficulties with relationships, but, since it was a mutual break up, it wasn't uncomfortable.

"Hi honey," Su said as Terry walked in and sat down next to her. He immediately threw his arm around her and snuggled his nose in her hair. Her cheeks turned a light shade of pink, and a big grin spread across her face.

"Hi." He smiled, then turned his attention to us. "How are both of you? Did you have a good holiday?"

I nodded. "Yep, it was nice."

"Glad to hear it. And how was yours, my dear?" He turned back to Su.

"Oh, let me tell you about it…" Su started going on about her vacation, talking about all of her adventures in Seoul with her mom. During the whole conversation, the two of them were getting rather mushy-gushy. I heard Seamus shift a little bit in his seat. I looked over at him. He looked at me. We nodded once, then got up and scrambled out of the door. Su and Terry looked up as we left, but they didn't say anything.

"Wow, glad to get out of there," I said to Seamus as we walked down the hall.

He nodded. "Yeah, it was getting a little weird to be in there. Let's see if we can find Lavender and Parvati and anyone else we can sit with."

"Ok, sounds goo-wait." I froze in my steps, terror washing over me. What would Parvati think if she saw us together? I was sure that word had gotten around that we had been together, even though I had tried to keep it a secret from Lavender and Parvati both. I knew that if Lavender heard about it, she would spill, no doubt. "Seamus, what if she knows?"

He turned and looked at me. "What do you mean?"

"The only person who knows that we broke up is Su. Word had to have gotten out somehow that we were together. Parvati probably knows by now. She's going to be pissed out of her mind! I don't think it would be a good idea for us to sit with them."

"If we went in together and explained the situation –"

I shook my head. "No. I want to talk to her one on one about it. I don't want you to get the wrath that I will probably get."

"Okay, I understand. Well, where else could we go?"

Of course, my first thought was to go find Harry. I almost said it out loud, too, but then I stopped myself. He was probably with Ginny now. I could stand to see other people all lovey and mushy together, but him with anyone else would just be difficult for me to see right now.

"I don't know. We could chill with some of your friends."

He looked down at his feet, and then at me. "I don't want it to be awkward for you."

I cocked my head. "What do you mean?"

He ran a hand through his hair. "Well, Dean and I are kind of in a row, and that leaves me with very few people to be around. With Parvati and Lavender thrown out of the mix, there are only three other people that I know well enough to talk to on this ride…"

I sighed. If we didn't find a seat soon, someone was going to come out of the woodworks and start yelling at us. If him and Dean were having a fight (I was curious to find out what it was all about now!), and we couldn't go with Lav and Parv, then there was nowhere else to go.

"I can survive." If Ginny was there, I was probably going to cry when I got off the train. This experience was not new to me; the one I wanted being with someone else. I had gone through it several times before. It was just…different with Harry.

"You sure?"

I nodded.

He smiled a half smile. "Okay. Come on." He grabbed my hand and we went looking for where they all were sitting.

* * *

"You're going to have to come out sometime," Hermione said, trying to pull the covers from over my head.

"No! I'm not coming out! NEVER!!" I pulled them even tighter around me, and curled up underneath them. I didn't want to leave that spot. I didn't want to face Parvati again.

After the train ride back to Hogwarts (which actually went smoothly – Harry and Ginny were nowhere to be seen. It was only Ron and Hermione in the booth.), I had gone straight up to my room, only to find Parvati sitting on my bed, arms crossed and makeup runs down her face. She looked completely and utterly pissed off. I started to say her name, but she cut me off, screaming almost unintelligibly about my being with Seamus, and how it broke her heart, and that she couldn't trust me anymore. I tried to explain what had happened between him and I, but she wouldn't let me get a word in. Eventually, she huffed out of the room, slamming the wooden door behind her, leaving me to collapse in my bed and curl up in a protective ball.

"You have to talk to her, Krystel. It won't get any better if you don't say anything."

I threw the covers off of me and looked her straight in the eyes. "How am I supposed to talk to her if she won't even let me speak?!"

"I don't know! You seem to handle stuff like this better than I can. Ron and I **just** made up, you know." She sighed. "Parvati has calmed down a bit since earlier. You may be able to talk to her."

"Is she alone? Or is Lavender with her?"

"She's alone, in the common room, with her head in a book."

I shot Hermione a "if-you're-wrong-I'll-kill-you" look, and headed out the door to the common room.

Parvati was sitting in the chair that I always sat in, a big textbook in her lap. She wasn't even looking at it, though; her eyes were on the blazing fireplace. I tried to walk down the stairs softly, but one of the steps creaked. I closed my eyes as I heard her breath catch.

"That better not be who I think it is."

I walked farther down the steps and went to stand in front of her, my face full of pleading. She took one look at me, slammed her book shut, and started walking for the door.

"Parvati, wait."

She stopped and turned around. "Why should I?"

I felt tears start to well up in my eyes. "Can you let me explain?"

She crossed her arms, remaining silent. I took that as a chance to speak.

"Parvati, I never meant to hurt you, or anyone else. Seamus and I was a strange, random blip on the radar. I don't know how it happened, honestly. A couple of days ago, we decided that we did like each other, but we each wanted to be with someone else. We felt it would be better if we called it off." I saw her facial expression change slightly, but she showed no sign of the pissed-offness going away. "He wants to be with you, Parvati. We both like each other, but he wants to be with you, and I want to be with Harry…even if that doesn't happen." I wiped away the tear that was threatening to fall on my cheek. "I'm really sorry, hon. I didn't mean anything by it. I love you, and I treasure your friendship so much. Please, forgive me. Or, at least, don't kill me in my sleep tonight."

She slowly smiled. "He…he wants to be with me?"

I nodded, smiling as well. "Yes, Parv, he does. He likes you a lot."

She walked over to me and gave me a hug, whispering "I'm sorry about earlier" in my ear. As soon as the hug ended, she left the room through the main door. 'Going to find Seamus,' I thought to myself. There was no doubt in my mind.

I walked back up the stairs, almost bewildered by what had just happened. I had no idea if she was still mad at me, or if she still hated me. She had apologized for screaming, at least – but I didn't know if it had been fixed.

Hermione was lying on her bed with her Potions book open. "How did it go?"

I plopped down on my bed. "I don't know, honestly. I explained everything, and then she hugged me, told me she was sorry, and walked off."

"…That was it?"

"That was it."

She closed her book and rolled over on her back. "Wow. That girl never ceases to amaze me. I've known her for 6 years, and every day is an adventure."

"I've known her for 6 months. Imagine how I feel."

Hermione laughed.

I glanced over at Hermione. "Hey, are you completely busy right now?"

She opened her Potions book again, flipping to the page she had marked. "Unfortunately, yes. I have a lot of Potions work to do."

"Ok." I said with a sigh. I got up from my bed, grabbed my robe, and began to walk towards Ravenclaw.

* * *

I ran into Su randomly in the hallway on the way to Ravenclaw (she said she was actually on her way to Gryffindor – we're psychically connected like that), and we decided to go chill out in one of the towers and officially catch up.

"I kind of wanted to apologize for how Terry and I acted in the train car the other day." Su said as we were climbing the steep stairs. "It wasn't very nice of us to do that…or considerate."

"Psh." I waved my hand in front of my face. "No biggie. Seamus and I left to give you guys some private time."

She giggled a bit, then coughed. "Yeah, well…it still wasn't very nice of us to do. And I'm sorry."

"It's ok. Now, open the door. Seamus' mom is a really good cook, and I ate too much over the holiday – I'm out of breath. I need to sit."

Su laughed as we both walked into the tower. The view from the tower during the day was different than it was at night; in the daytime, you could see for miles and miles. And, at this time of year, everything was covered in a thick blanket of white. It was beautiful. Breathtaking.

We talked for what turned out to be a couple of hours, but only felt like fifteen minutes or so. I told her about the surprise my dad gave me, about going to Seamus' house, and how our break up officially went down. I heard most of the stories she told Terry about Seoul when we were on the train, but I heard some that she had not told him…probably out of kindness, since I'm sure he wouldn't want to hear about her making out with a J-rocker at a New Year's party.

Yeah. Pretty sure he wouldn't want to know. Guys get kind of fussy about that kind of stuff, don't they?

I digress.

After our talk, and when we finally couldn't feel our fingers, we decided to go back down and see if we could get some hot cocoa from someone. It was on our way down the stairs that I saw the one person I didn't want to see.

Harry walked by the doorway, nonchalantly, chatting away with Ron about something or other that happened over break, and holding hands with Ginny. He laughed at something. He didn't look at me. He didn't need to. I immediately crumpled on the stairs and started crying.

"What the – Krystel? Honey? What's wrong?" Su sat down next to me and pulled me into a hug.

"I-" I hiccupped, "I – s-saw – him…"

"Who did you – oh." The lightbulb went off in her head. She pulled me closer. I could feel her hair falling on me.

"It's just not fair, you know?" I sniffled a bit, sitting up. I wiped my nose on my robe (gross, I know. Heh.). "Everyone's happy. You've got Terry, Hermione and Ron made up, Lav and Ron are still together, and now Seamus and Parvati are together. Ginny and…him seem pretty happy together. And here I am. Alone." I ran a hand through my hair. "It's not fair."

Su gently massaged my shoulders. "No, it's not. You deserve the best." Suddenly, her mouth was right by my ear, making me jump. "Would you want me to go jump Ginny? Harry's too damn good for her. I never liked the bitch anyways."

I laughed a bit. "No. I'm overreacting. I need school to start." I turned to face Su. "I need stuff to take my mind off of this mushy crap."

"No." She touched my nose with her finger. "What you need is a drink."

I smiled. I had only known Su for a few months, but she knew me so well.

"Unfortunately, I don't have anything good. Hot chocolate will have to do."

"Sounds good to me."

**A/N: Short and crappy chapter! A filler, I suppose. I'm sorry you all had to return to this pile of crap. I'm on Christmas break from my first year of college (w00t!), and I'm bored…so I think I'm going to start writing again. Yay.**

**I've got HBP right next to me. We'll see how the rest of this goes.**

**Once again, sorry for the utter suckiness of this chapter. I have to get back into the groove.**


	10. Chapter 10

**Ch. 10  
**

_I need to speak with you. Meet me by the lake after Transfiguration today._

_Please don't be angry with me. - Harry_

I held the note like it was about to explode. He must have had Hermione slip it in my Potions book. That was the only way I could think of that any sort of note from him would get into anything of mine. We hadn't spoken to each other since we got back to school. We hadn't even exchanged glances, though we walked by each other constantly. The snow was now beginning to melt, and the flowers were starting to poke their heads out towards the sun again.

…Yes, it was spring. I was trying to use some "flowery language".

The breeze felt nice as I lay back in the grass. My classes had subtly increased in difficulty, with Defense Against The Dark Arts being the toughest. Snape's little quips at me when I made mistakes on the spells were starting to wear on me a bit. I got in the habit of emailing Tim about it, since he always helped me feel better, along with venting to Su or anyone around with ears at the time.

The sound of the water relaxed me. I felt all the tensions of the past few months melt away. I sighed, closing my eyes. Too bad it had to be interrupted so soon…

I heard footsteps, and then someone sit down in the grass beside me.

The wind blew through the trees.

I opened my eyes a crack. Yep. It was him.

"Hello, Harry." I tried to sound as freaking cocky as I could, but I felt my voice tremble a bit.

He cleared his throat. "Hi."

There was a long pause. It seemed as though this short time of not speaking to each other had screwed up our flow of communication completely. I started picking at the grass.

"Krys, I –" Harry started, and then cleared his throat again. He ran a hand through his tousled (and sexy!!) hair before he continued. "I wanted to say that I was sorry for what happened at the party. I know that really ticked you off, and it wasn't my intention for…for…"

"For you to ditch me," I finished for him, tearing a whole handful of grass out of the ground.

He winced a bit. "Yeah, that. Some things have been happening, and it's just been escalating…I've been really busy lately, and I haven't gotten a chance to apologize. I'm sorry."

I opened my hand up, letting the freshly murdered grass fall back to the ground. I didn't know what to say back. I mean, I believed that he was sorry for what had happened…but there had been so many opportunities for him to apologize to me. All he had to do was grab my arm or something and say, "I'm sorry!" you know? It's not that hard.

…Of course, I could have grabbed his arm and said, "Apologize now!" but I didn't. Part of the delay could be attributed to me.

But that really wasn't my dilemma. The question that swirled around in my head in that moment was whether to be nice to him and accept his apology, or to just let him have it. The problem with being nice to him was that I would still be angry, and the problem with letting him have it would be that certain…things could come out of my mouth that I would regret later.

Like telling him how I felt about him while he was perfectly happy with his little tramp – I mean, girlfriend. Heh.

But, just like Cady in the movie Mean Girls, I had an attack of the deadly 'word vomit' before any of those thoughts took true shape, and I could rationalize them out in my head.

"You've been busy, eh?" I looked over at him, my eyes burning through their sockets. "You've been too busy to give an apology to me? Me, a girl who lives THREE FEET away from you, and sees you EVERY DAY in the hallways and corridors of this freaking school? Me, a girl who you intentionally avoided every time you saw me?" He looked like he was going to protest to that comment, but I kept going. "Me, a girl who you FREAKING LEFT at a party? You were too busy for me? What were you doing?"

"Calm down." He touched my shoulder. I shrugged him off and stood up. He followed suit. "Let me explain."

"Calm down? Let you explain? Yeah, like that's going to do any good. Maybe what you did was not a big deal to you, and, yeah, it's not all that big of a deal to me, either. But, the fact that you didn't freaking APOLOGIZE for a good two months after, even though we live in the same place, eat at the same place, take classes at the same place, and BREATHE THE SAME FUCKING AIR, really pisses me off. Now, I don't care what it was that was going on. I don't care if Voldemort's going to blow up the world, or whatever, but I believe that it was incredibly insensitive and stupid of you to just…blow me off like you have been doing." I took a breath. Harry thought that he was going to get a chance to speak.

Boy, was he wrong. The word vomit just kept coming. The little voice in my head said stop, but it just kept coming…the adrenaline that came along with the infamous Koromashi temper started to flow through my veins.

"And, you know what? I don't even CARE what it was you left me at the party for! I don't care! You know why? Because it's not a big deal. What I care about is what you've been doing the past two months that has left you with no time to speak two simple, little words to me. You told me once that you could tell me anything, and now it seems like you struggle to talk to me. Why is that, Harry? Hmm? Why is that? Could it be that you're spending too much time with someone else's TONGUE DOWN YOUR THROAT?"

His eyes got wide. "How dare you even-"

I laughed a truly evil laugh. "Oh, hoh, hoh! I hit a tender spot. Well, looks like you don't know much about me, Harry. I don't leave any rocks uncovered when I'm pissed off. And I'm UBER pissed off." I started pacing around, my hands making strange motions in the air. I probably looked like I was crazy. "I mean, it doesn't make any sense. I do my homework, eat, go to class, sleep, do everything that a normal student here does, and I still have plenty of time that, if I had to, I could go and apologize to someone. And you don't. So, what do you have that I don't have? That's right, a significant other. Makes perfect sense, doesn't it? Everyone knows what the two of you do in the far corridors, anyways, it's no secret-"

"STOP IT!" He started walking towards me, the steam coming from his ears nearly visible. I was so far in the zone that I wasn't phased by this a bit. I just started walking backwards.

"Why? Does it really bother you that much when people talk about you and your girlfriend? Well, get used to it, Mr. Harry Potter – everyone is going to know what goes on between you and your significant other. Your 'main squeeze', if you will. You can't escape that. And, no matter what you may think about yourself, there are always going to be people who want to be with you just for that reason. The attention. That's all they want. Nothing more. The fame, the attention, the money, the press. They don't want anything else. Talk to anyone outside of your immediate circle, and they'll tell you whom those people are. Who she is. What she's going to do to you. What's going to happen."

I felt my back go up against a column. I hadn't realized that we had crossed the entire courtyard. I could feel the eyes of students on the two of us; a crazy redhead screaming at a livid, red-in-the-face Harry Potter. I even felt a few of their winces when he straight up slapped me across the face. I kept my face turned and my eyes closed afterwards, waiting until the sting faded to give my answer.

"I wanted to give you an apology, and this is what I get? Who do you think you are to tell me how to live my life, what I should do, or who I should be with? Who the HELL do you think you are, Krystel Koromashi?"

I opened my eyes and stared at him. I could feel the tears well up in my eyes as I spoke. "You want to know who I am, Harry? You really want to know?"

He stared, his eyes boring into me.

"Okay, then, here goes nothing. I'm the girl who you had late night conversations with when we didn't even know each other. I'm the girl who has smiled at you every time she saw you in the hallway, even if you didn't notice her. I'm the girl who didn't scope you out when she transferred to this school, like any of her friends back in America would have. I'm the girl who has always thought of you as a person, as a friend, as a human being. I'm the girl who's listened to you. I'm the girl who cares about you. Goddamn it, Harry, I'm the girl who's in love with you!"

The adrenaline stopped flowing at that moment, and my blood just stopped in my veins. Everything in me went numb. My eyes grew huge, and I began to stutter uncontrollably.

I had just told Harry that I was in love with him.

"I-I have to go," I managed to stammer out before I turned and ran towards the Ravenclaw common rooms. I faintly heard Harry call after me before I entered the castle.

~*~

"Wow, you don't look too good. And, from the sounds of it, you don't feel so good, either."

I hadn't quite made it to the common area; instead, I had to take a detour into the girl's room for a quick prayer to the porcelain god. As the remains of my lunch came up as my sacrifice, Moaning Myrtle took it upon herself to try and start a conversation with me.

"Yeah, Myrtle...I'm not feeling too well." I rolled my eyes, causing a spout of vertigo and another wave of icky grossness.

"What happened?"

"A boy," I said in between breaths. I then winced.

Any mention of boys got this ghost going. She dissolved into a fit of hysterics, crying and sputtering all over the bathroom. She had apparently died after being teased by a boy (so I had overheard a couple of second years say my first few weeks at Hogwarts), and so she haunted the toilet she died on, crying over boys to this day.

"THEY'RE SO STUPID!! ALL-HIC-ALL OF THEM!! I CAN'T STAND THEM!! WAAAAHHHH!!!!" She began to splash water around on the floor. I took that as my cue to flush, clean up, and go.

I came out of the stall, washed my hands, wiped my hands and mouth with some paper towels, and looked at myself in the mirror. My eyes looked dark and sunken in from getting sick. My face and chest were still beat red, with the left side of my face being slightly redder than the right. I lightly touched my left cheek, checking to see if it still stung at all. That was when I realized my face was wet.

Tears.

I had been crying the whole time. My head had been swirling around so much that I didn't even notice the river of tears that were cascading down my face. Looking down at my clothes, I saw little water spots all over my robe and uniform shirt. The ends of my hair were even a little wet.

I slowly sunk down to the floor, curling up in a corner with my arms around my knees, and let it all go. I sobbed. I sobbed hard. My breathing started to get really ragged as my crying escalated. I felt as if I was having an asthma attack.

The last thing I remember is my head making contact with the bathroom floor.

~*~

"Come on, now…come on…"

"Gah! What _is_ that?" A really strong, nasty smell filled my nose, causing me to bolt straight up in bed.

Blinking a few times, I looked around. I wasn't in the bathroom anymore. There were beds all over the room, with curtains dividing each bed from the next one. A kind looking woman was standing at my bedside with a little box in her hands, watching me intently.

"Welcome back! Are you all right, dear?" The woman said as she set the box down on the table next to me. There were little rocks in it.

'Smelling salts,' I thought, rubbing my hand across my forehead. 'I must have passed out or something.'

"Yeah, I'm okay…what happened?"

"You were passed out in the second floor girl's room," she said, pushing me back down towards the bed. I didn't object; it felt good to lie down. I shut my eyes as I felt the blood start to go back into my brain. "A few first years found you. You'll be fine; just lie down for a while. Let me know if you need anything."

"Thank you," I said, trying to smile through the pounding in my head. I could have sworn I heard her snicker at me, but then all I heard was the clicking of her heels on the floor of the infirmary.

I couldn't believe it. I had never passed out before, and, the first time that I did, it wasn't from anything cool, like a meteorite falling from the sky and hitting me on the head, or Steven Tyler tripping and falling into me, knocking my head on a lamp post (hey, my aunt Michelle, claims that it happened to her – she woke up with Steven Tyler staring into her eyes. She said it was 'as if the sky had opened and God had started singing to her'). No, it was from freaking out so much that I knocked myself out.

Jazzy. I rubbed my forehead, trying to get the pounding down. I was just about to call the nice lady back over when I heard Su frantically talking in the background.

"Oh, my God! Where is she? Koromashi, yes, Krystel Koromashi! Where is she? Oh, my God!" I braced myself for impact as her heels clicked closer. I was soon engulfed in the human form of Su Li.

"Oh, my God! They just pulled me out of class, and said that something had happened to you! I didn't know what to think! I started freaking out! Are you okay?" She grabbed both sides of my face in her hands. "Are you okay??"

I tried (and failed) to swat her hands away. "Yes, Su, I'm fine. I'm fine. I apparently passed out in the bathroom."

"..??!? .GOD!!!!" I was engulfed again. "What happened? Why did you pass out? How long were you out? What's going on?"

"I'll tell you if you get off of me!" I started to squirm under her, pushing her chest up with my hands. She got up off of me, muttering a 'sorry', and sat down in the chair by the bedside, pulling it as close to the bed as she could.

"I don't know how long I was out, but, I passed out because…well…I was crying. Don't start again, my head still hurts." I could tell she was about to go into another fit of hysterics. I had to stop her. She mouthed an 'ok'. "I went and saw Harry after class, and things happened, and I said some things that I wish I didn't say."

"Like what?"

"Well…he apologized for what happened at the party, but the word vomit came up, and I started screaming at him for, basically, spending all of the time that he could have used apologizing to me for the past two months sucking face with Ginny."

"…Oh. Interesting."

"That's not even the best part. I kept going. It was like…I couldn't stop. I berated him about it, basically saying that he was a moron for being with her, that she was going to just throw him away when she was done with him, that she didn't really love him, and that…" My voice caught in my throat, but Su knew what I had wanted to say.

"You didn't."

I nodded. "I did."

"How…how exactly did you say it?"

I sighed. "I told him, straight up, that I was in love with him."

She paused.

"What?" I cocked my head slightly.

"You told him you were in love with him?"

"Yeah…"

"…Are you?"

My turn to pause. "Wh-what?"

Su looked right at me. "Are you really in love with him?"

I gulped. I hadn't really thought about it; the words had just come out of my mouth. "I….I guess…"

"Then it was good that you said it. It's kind of sucky that you had to say it right then, in that situation, but it's good that you got it out there."

"Umm…ok. I guess so."

She paused, and then waved her arms around frantically. "Okay, I honestly have no idea what to say to that. I have no idea. I'm still reeling from being pulled out of class to find you lying in a hospital bed. I have no good advice for you right now. Sorry"

"Thank you." I rolled over so I wasn't looking at her anymore.

"Hey, don't do that…look, it happened, it's done. You've gotta pick yourself up and keep going, you know? You got it out there. You can't take it back. You just…you just have to keep going forward."

"Mmmhmmm." My brains felt like they were trying to jump out of my forehead and run away. "Su, I hate to tell you to go away, but would you go away? My head hurts."

"Okay. Get rest. We'll talk more about this later, love." I heard the chair move against the floor, and her heels click.

I fell asleep rather quickly, and I slept for a good three hours. I probably could have slept longer had Madame Pomfrey not shaken me awake, telling me that I needed to go back to my room, since the infirmary was "no place to get your shut eye for the night". I gradually wound my way back to the Gryffindor common room, and, ignoring Parvati and Lavender's concerned questions asking why I wasn't in class earlier that day, crawled into my bed and fell back asleep.

~*~

_It was dark. A dark room. Curtains fluttered by the window. The moon was bright and full in the dark sky. The door was slightly open. A peek of light came in from the hallway. Muffled voices._

_Wandering out of the small bed. Walking towards the door, the taste of thumb soothing you. Peeking out of the door opening._

_Aunt Michelle outside. And a man. Holding a baby. Giving the baby to Auntie. Kissing its head. Looking at the door for a second. Dark eyes._

_Black eyes._

My eyes snapped open, rousing me from my sleep. I hadn't dreamed, or even thought, about that moment for quite some time. I wasn't even sure if it had really happened. I knew from my mom telling me that we stayed with my grandma and my aunt Michelle for a while when I was about 2, after my parents got divorced, and that in that time period, Lorissa came to live with them. It just seemed strange that I would remember something like that, consciously or unconsciously, from when I was that little.

I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes and looked over at my clock. 2:14.

Looking up at my ceiling, I could sense that I wasn't going to go back to sleep immediately. 'Probably from the nap earlier,' I thought, slipping my slippers on my feet and walking downstairs, laptop in hand.

As I neared the Great Room, I began to hear voices coming from it. I crept as close as I could to the room without being seen, and began to eavesdrop.

"…You want from me?" A voice I instantly recognized spoke to someone else. I leaned in closer to catch what was being said.

"Harry, where is all of this coming from?" A female voice, layered in sugary sweetness, said in response. Ginny.

"Just tell me. And be honest. I need to know what it is that you want from me."

"I-I don't understand…what?"

"Do you want to be with me just to be with me? Or is it the fame? Money? Attention? I need to know, right now, before we go any further with this."

"Harry…"

"You're hesitating."

"No, I'm not."

"Yes, you are! Answer the damn question!"

There was a pause. It felt as though no one was breathing. I was pretty sure that even Parvati and Lavender could feel the tension rising out of this room.

Ginny cleared her throat. "Harry, I-I don't want you to take this the wrong way…but…"

"But what?" He said in a half sigh. I could see him running a hand through his hair.

She sighed. "But…the reason I'm with you is…umm…well…complicated."

"How so?" He was getting angry.

"I mean…don't get me wrong, Harry, I like you. It's just…the ten year old me wants to be with you more than the sixteen year old me. Do…do you understand what I'm saying?"

"…That you're with me to fulfill a childhood fantasy? Is that it?"

"I wouldn't have put it quite like that, but…yes. That's it."

Pause.

"…And the attention has been nice."

I heard Harry growl, and then him standing up. I could tell that something big was coming.

"Ginny…I cannot believe that you would even THINK of using me like that. What is wrong with you?"

"Harry, I haven't been using you-"

"Oh, but you have. You don't want to be with me, you said so yourself. Ginny, I'm a human being – a human being that has a lot to deal with right now. It's not right, it's not fair! And I should have known. I should have known. Even when I overheard Dean talking about a few moments he had with you in the corridors – "

"Harry, don't-"

"No, I stood up for you. I called him a liar. I said that you wouldn't betray me like that. I believed that you liked me. I believed you wanted to be with me. And you didn't. You don't. I'm just a little toy for you; something to pass the time."

Harry took a breath, and then asked one more thing. "Tell me, just so I know…did what I just talked about…did…did it happen?"

"Harry…"

"Just tell me."

"…Yes."

I thought I heard Harry's heart audibly break as he stomped off towards the boys' dorm. I could definitely make out Ginny crying softly in the Great Room. I dashed back up the stairs before she could spy me lurking in the shadows.

Putting my laptop in my bag, I crawled back into bed, pulling my covers tight over my head. I could not believe what I had just gotten to hear. One of the nights that I can't go back to sleep, I got to hear the breakup of the man I'm in love with and his girlfriend. I should have been happy; I should have felt victorious.

But all I could do was cry.

~*~

"Ow!" I said quietly as I felt something sharp hit me in the ankle. Looking down, I saw that a little triangular paper football had poked me with one of its sharp corners.

I didn't even have to look to see whom it was from. Su always passed notes in Transfiguration, since it had become incredibly boring lately. Making sure Professor McGonagall wasn't looking, I reached down and opened the note under my table.

_Did you hear the news? Harry and Ginny broke up last night. Everyone has been talking about it. You should do something about it._

I turned around to silently argue against that motive with Su, but met Harry's eyes instead. He seemed shocked to see me, even though we had shared that class all year. I could feel tears springing to my eyes just looking at him. His eyes were sunken in, his hair was more messed up than usual, and his face looked incredibly pale. He looked as though he were in physical pain.

As if we received the same cues, we both looked down at our shoes. I turned back around, and decided to scribble down my response.

_Yes, Su, I know. I know all about it. I happened to hear it all. And, no, I am not going to do something about it. Have you looked at him? He looks miserable. The last thing he needs right now is some other chick, and I'm not being a rebound._

I put the note down on the floor and kicked it backwards, towards where she was sitting. Lavender was right behind me, sitting next to Ron (the two of them were also on the rocks, from what I had been hearing from Parvati and Hermione, the latter of the two not seeming to mind), and I could always count on her to send the notes back for me.

When the class ended, Su made a beeline for my table, dragging me out of the classroom by the sleeve and into a random hallway.

"What do you mean, you _heard _it?" She asked me, eyes wide open.

"It's just what it sounded like, I heard it."

"Well…what happened?"

I started chewing on my tongue. "I…I don't want to talk about it."

"Dude, why not?"

I sighed, looking down at my shoes. "It doesn't seem right to me to talk about it."

Su crossed her arms. "Ok, fine. You don't have to talk about it. But, what you do have to tell me is when are you going to make your move?"

I felt my eyes get big. "Su, I can't do it now!"

"I know, I know. I'm just asking."

I shook my head. "I don't know when. He needs time to move on. It would just be shitty of me to be all 'Hey, let's hook up, even though you're not over Ginny.' You know?"

"I know." She looked down at her watch. "Oh, hey, I need to go. I promised Terry I'd meet him after class. Love you, hon. We'll talk later tonight, ok?"

I nodded with a half smile. "Yeah, later tonight. Bye hon."

Su ran off, and I headed back to the common room.

~*~

"God, I cannot BELIEVE him!" The voice of a pissed off Lavender Brown came booming through our room. Parvati and I had been studying quietly. I jumped a bit; Parvati screamed and somehow managed to fall completely off her bed in surprise. Lavender shut the door loudly behind her, completely oblivious to her best friend yelling obscenities at her.

"I cannot BELIEVE him! What was I thinking? Honestly! He's the slimiest little…GRRRRR!!!" She stomped around the room a bit, and then sat down on Parvati's bed in a huff.

"Lav, what's wrong?" Parvati said as she climbed back on her bed. "Who are you mad at?"

"RON!" She lay back on Parvati's pillows. "I dumped him. I'm completely done with him. No more."

I turned to look at her. "You dumped Ron?"

She nodded. "I can't even believe him. He's so stupid…so base-headed. I can't believe I ever wanted to be with him. Ever." She sat up and looked straight at me. "Did you know that he never wanted to be with me?"

"What?" I felt really confused. They had been all over each other for so long. Sure, Lavender could get a little obsessive, but they did look uber cute together.

"Yeah. He never wanted to be with me. The whole time, he's wanted Hermione."

"HERMIONE?!" Parvati and I exchanged shocked glances.

"Yes. Hermione. Hermione Granger. I've realized…he's wanted her since they first met. He was just using me to make her jealous!"

"Holy crap. That's vengeful." Parvati started to give Lavender a shoulder rub.

"Oh, and you know what? She's just been acting like she didn't care about any of it. Still being all friendly and shit to my face. But, you know what I've heard? She's been saying things…about how much she doesn't like me, and how much she didn't approve. You both know what that means."

We were both silent; she was going to tell us anyways, even if we did know what it meant.

"It means that Hermione wants him as well."

"Noooo." Parvati said, her words dripping in sarcasm. It was apparently lost on Lavender, though, because she nodded eagerly in response.

"Yeah. Can you believe it? I have no idea how I could have missed it!"

"Do they both know how they feel about each other?" I asked.

Both girls shrugged. Lavender looked over at Parvati with questioning eyes, then shook her head and turned back to me. "I don't think so, but who knows with them. Honestly, I don't care anymore. It's a good thing I didn't love him or anything. He wasn't worth it."

Just then, the door opened, and Hermione walked in. She took one look at Lavender, let out a small "Oh!", and hastily shut the door.

I looked over at Lavender. "I take it she knows?"

She nodded. "Looks like it. Word sure travels fast in this school."

"Yes it does…" My mind drifted back to Harry and Ginny's break up. I witnessed it early that morning, and, as if the school walls had ears, everyone knew. It was ridiculous. Ashberry was pretty gossipy in and of itself, but it normally took at least 24 hours for a break up or a huge event to spread around the school.

A weird weight formed in the pit of my stomach. I could see Harry's face from Transfiguration today in front of my eyes. I felt guilty. No matter what anyone could say to me, or what they could try and make me feel about the situation, I knew. I knew that I had some sort of a role in their break up. It didn't matter what I felt about him. He was broken hearted, just because I had to go spout my mouth off.

"Hey, honey? You okay?" Parvati snapped me out of my thought processes. I smiled a half smile and nodded.

"Yeah, I'm fine."

"Good," Lavender chimed in, "because I think we need to go cause some mayhem in celebration of my newfound single status."

"Sounds good." I said, gathering my purse up and following Parvati and Lavender out the door, Harry's eyes still visible in my mind. I needed to do anything I could to get that image out of my head, if even for a little while. I figured that mayhem would be better than nothing.

"Kitchen, here we come!" We all three ran through the hall towards the kitchen, in search of anything we could find that would make us feel happy, and not worrying one little bit if we ran into anyone, or if anyone said anything to us about our behavior.

I have to say…it was a nice feeling. One I hadn't had for a while.

We all got hot chocolate from the friendly elves in the kitchen, made our way back to the Gryffindor dorms, and sat on our beds, drinking and carrying on. Hermione came in sometime later. Lavender was asleep, though, so it saved some awkward moments from happening. When I crawled into bed that night, I felt as though a weight had been lifted off my shoulders.

I felt optimistic about the last few months of school. It was a good feeling.

I had no idea what was going to happen.

I wish I would have.

**A/N: Woo! Another chapter! And this one's longer…I'm almost done with the 6th book. Exciting, no? Stay tuned – the next few chapters are going to be interesting and crazy!**

**Thanks to everyone who has been supportive, and who's added this story to their alerts/favorite stories or has reviewed it! I send much love your way. *lovelovelovelove***


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: Hey everybody! Man, do I feel productive. I'm excited to write and possibly COMPLETE this story in the next few weeks! I think I've only finished a handful of stories…and this one will be the longest one I have ever finished. Thank you, everyone for the support, positive feedback, and LURVE you've all shown! Stay tuned, because it's about to get crazy!**

**Oh…and how about a disclaimer? Just for legality, you know. I don't own this stuff. Well…Krystel Koromashi, I do own, because…well…she's ME, and the crazy characters I made up, I own as well…BUT the rest of it is not mine. It belongs to J.K. Rowling, who is a lovely woman, and has created a wonderful story for all of us to enjoy.**

**But…I'll say this now…I would NEVER name my child Albus Severus. *Foreshadowing warning!***

**Haha. On with the chappie!**

**Ch. 11  
**

May came quicker than I had expected it to. The optimism I had felt that night in the spring stuck with me through those few months in between, even though there was no reason for it to. Hermione and Lavender's relationship had become awkward and strained – so much so that Parvati and I would find any excuse to get away from the two of them when they were in the same room and NOT sleeping. Ginny had hooked up with Dean Thomas very quickly after Harry and her split up, which really seemed to bring Harry down even farther than he was to begin with. I rarely saw him anymore, and, when I did, it would just be in passing. He would be coming out of Dumbledore's office, or hurrying through the halls with Hermione and Ron, discussing something in a hushed tone.

I wanted to talk to him desperately, even if just to kind of clear up my conscience on the whole situation. I still felt guilty for what had happened, and rightfully so – I don't know if Harry would have spoken to Ginny about everything had I not opened my big mouth. But, I never wanted to make him miserable. I never wanted to make him suffer.

I held off on talking to him as long as I could, but then something happened that made me have to speak to him.

It was only the beginning of the events that would change my life, and every other Hogwarts student's life, forever.

~*~

"Oh, Krys, I'm so excited for the last Quidditch match!" Su exclaimed, putting mascara on her eyelashes. Su, Parvati, Lavender, and I had all planned a girl's picnic out by the lake that day, and she and I were getting ready in her room.

"Why?" The only two sports that I enjoyed watching (and actually comprehended somewhat) were baseball and tennis. Quidditch just made my neck hurt, since you had to stare up in the sky for practically the whole game.

"Because! It's the last game of the year! Everyone gets excited about these games," she started smudging some brown eye shadow on her eyelids, "and besides, it's Ravenclaw versus Gryffindor! Harry's the captain of Gryffindor, you know."

I sighed. "Yes, I know that."

"Have you ever gone to see him play?"

I shook my head. "No, I never have."

She turned around on her little stool. "Are you serious? You've never gone to see him play?"

"Nope. I don't like watching Quidditch."

"Honey…it's not about whether you like it or not…it's about going to see your man."

"He's not my man."

"So?" She finished with her makeup and came over to sit by me on her bed. "It would mean a lot to him, I'm sure."

"Umm…no, it wouldn't. We haven't spoken since I…well…you know."

"Hmm. Well, it's settled then." She stood up and grabbed the bag of food that we had gotten for our picnic from Hogsmeade the day before.

"What's settled?" I asked as I followed her out the door.

"We're going to go see the game on Saturday, and you're going to be there to cheer Harry on."

"Uhh…," was all I could say. Su smirked at me, then squealed as I started running after her, threatening to "take her down, right there, in the hallway". A few first years scurried out of our way as we bolted down the hallways and out the doors. I chased Su down to the lake, where we both collapsed by the cute red-and-white striped blanket that Lavender and Parvati had set out.

"Well, hi guys!" Parvati said with a laugh and a smile. "How goes it?"

I sat up on my knees and pointed an accusing finger at Su. "She's making me go to the Quidditch game on Saturday!"

Lavender gave Parvati a look of confusion. Parvati shrugged. "So?"

"Well…gah. Whatever. I'll go. Whatever. Let's just have our picnic!" We all dove into our baskets of yummy goodness with glee. The weather was perfect that day; bright, sunny, and only a few clouds. There was a slight breeze, which kept us all cool in the soon-to-be-summer heat. We all munched on our peanut butter and jelly sandwiches (Lavender picked the crust off of hers, just to have a 5 year old moment), drank our apple juice and milk, talked, and laughed about life in general. It was glorious.

By the time we came back into the castle, my face was pink and really warm. 'I knew I forgot something!', I thought as us three Gryffindors waved goodbye to Su and traveled back to our dorms.

I forgot sunscreen. I could already smell my skin baking. If you have never experienced the smell of your own skin cooking, feel happy. It's not good.

"Hey, Katie…are you okay? You don't look too good." Parvati said as she walked over to a blonde haired girl sitting on one of the cushy chairs in the Great Room. I figured she was Katie. She had her head between her knees, as if she was going to throw up or pass out.

"No. No, I'm not okay. I'm not okay at all."

"What's wrong?" Parvati sat down on the floor in front of her.

She looked up at her. "Harry's not able to play in the Quidditch game on Saturday."

All three of us shouted, "What?" She jumped back in surprise, but then regained her composure.

"He's not able to play; he's stuck in detention with Snape every Saturday for the rest of the year."

"What happened?" I heard myself ask.

"Well, I'm not exactly sure…but the rumor around the school is that he put Draco Malfoy in the infirmary with some sort of spell that cut him up something terrible."

"He put someone in the hospital?" I could feel my eyes getting wide. I winced, since it made my sunburn hurt.

She nodded. "Draco hasn't been seen all day, and some people say they saw Harry running frantically through the hallways covered in blood."

'Whoa. This is weird.' I thought to myself, wondering what the hell he could have done to get covered in blood and run frantically through the hallways.

"Where is he? Do you know?"

"Yeah, he went up to his room, in there," Katie pointed towards the guys' dorm.

"Thanks. I'll see you all later." I felt the sudden impulse to go talk to him. I don't know where it came from, or how it happened, but I just had to know what happened. I had to see him. I had to talk to him.

I marched up the stairs and trudged down the hallway, looking at the doors as I passed. When I finally found the one that said "Harry and Ron" on it, I knocked, hoping that either one of them would be in the room.

"Yeah." I heard a bit muffled from the other side. It was Harry's voice. I opened the door slowly.

I had never been in a Hogwarts boy's room before. Surprisingly enough, it was well kept.

…Harry's side, anyways. Ron's stuff was everywhere.

Harry was lying down on his bed, his face buried in his pillow. His glasses were on the table next to his bed, and his robes were on the floor. He looked a mess.

"Hi, Harry."

He turned his head quickly, obviously shocked that it was a girl's voice that spoke. He seemed even more shocked when he figured out who it was.

"You're not supposed to be in here!" He said as he shot up and closed the door behind me. "If anyone finds out, you'll be in big trouble."

"Why? Is it against rules for me to be here?"

He paused, still shocked that I was in there. "Yes. It is."

"Oh. Sorry. I'll be quiet, I promise." I sat down in the chair he had by his desk. He stood by the door, just looking at me. We stared at our shoes for what felt like eternity until he broke the silence.

"Krys…why are you here?"

I looked at the other side of the room, mentally picking up Ron's things and putting them all away. "I just heard some things, and I wanted to know what happened. That's all."

"What did you hear? What do you want to know?" He was getting really defensive.

"Calm down, Harry. I just want to know what happened this afternoon. I heard some pretty strange things from some Katie chick downstairs."

He sat down on his bed and ran a hand through his hair. He captivated me in that moment. When he looked at me, I was glad that I was burnt, because my cheeks would have turned as red as my hair. When he had his glasses on, his eyes were pretty, but when they were off…the only word to describe them is 'ethereal'.

"Have you ever met Draco Malfoy?"

"No, I never have."

Harry sighed. "Okay, well, he's my age, and in Slytherin. We've been I guess what you would consider 'rivals' since we first met. We've always hated each other. I happened to run into the bathroom today to avoid Filch when I saw him in there. He was crying. He saw me in the mirror and attacked. I tried to get his wand out of his hands, but I couldn't. He was about to cast the Cruciatus curse on me when I fired back with a spell I found in my Potions book."

"Your…your Potions book?"

He nodded, obviously being bothered by the mental images he was getting from that afternoon. "The Potions book I got this year has a bunch of scribbling in the margins, mainly about how to improve potions, make them easier, things like that. But, there was this spell in there. It said to only use it 'on enemies'. So, I used it on Malfoy. I just didn't think it would end up like it did…" He put his head in his hands.

Without my control, my body rose up out of the chair, walked over to his bed, and sat down next to him. He didn't move, or even seem to notice that I was there.

"Snape came in after it happened, and he somewhat healed Malfoy. He then asked me for my book. I didn't want to get in trouble for having a book that's allowed me to cheat all year, so I gave him Ron's and hid mine in Mal- this place I found," his voice seemed to catch in his throat a bit. "As punishment, I have detention with Snape every Saturday for the rest of the year, which means that I can't play in the match this Saturday. That also means that if Gryffindor loses, it'll be put on me, and said to be my fault."

"You're really stressed, aren't you?"

He looked at me. "Is it that obvious?"

Our gazes locked, and we froze for what seemed like forever. It made me think about that night in the common room, the one where I gave him a back rub, where our eyes met and we looked at each other - REALLY looked at each other. My cheeks were burning, not only from the sunburn. I could see a little pink in his cheeks as well in the dim light of his room.

"Krystel…" he started. I watched nervously as his hand rose and lightly brushed my cheek. I could still feel it after he had put his hand back down. "There's so much…I want to tell you…"

"You can tell me anything, Harry." I couldn't help but notice that our faces were inching closer to each other - not just mine, but his also.

"I wish I could…but there's no time…for…it…" At that moment, our lips met. Harry kissed me with a passion that I could have never imagined. Even though this wasn't my first kiss (my first kiss was from some random guy named Evan that Emily tried to hook me up with – he was a creeper, for sure!), I knew that this was the kind of kiss that all the books talked about, and all the movies tried to show when the leading couples kissed for the first time. It was sweet, powerful, passionate, and gentle, all at the same time.

And yet, it felt wrong. All I could think about was whether or not he still had feelings for Ginny. I didn't want to be a rebound; I didn't want to be a part of this if that was the case. I could only enter into it if I was completely sure. I had to end it.

I put my hands on his chest and gently, but forcefully, pushed him away. He gave me a confused look, but his eyes told me that he felt hurt by it.

"Harry…I can't…I can't do it."

"What's wrong?" He watched me as I stood up, chewed my tongue, and ran a hand through my hair.

"I…I can't do it. It doesn't feel right."

"Why not?" His voice was nearly a whisper. I closed my eyes, causing the tears that were welling out to spill onto my cheeks. I started to cry. He looked at me for a few moments, then closed his eyes and put his head down.

"…It's because of Ginny, isn't it? You don't think I'm over her."

"Harry, you have to understand-"

"I think you should go now."

I wiped my cheeks with the back of my hand, no doubt smearing my makeup. "What?"

"Please," he said, barely audible, "just go. Please."

I whispered an "ok", turned around, and walked out of his room. I ran up to my room and grabbed my laptop. I took it back downstairs, laid down on the rug, and started to listen to the saddest, most haunting song I could think of: Jeff Buckley's version of the Leonard Cohen classic, "Hallelujah". I turned it up to full volume and let loose. I figured if it were loud enough, no one would hear me crying hysterically.

~*~

I woke up in the middle of the night to someone violently shaking me. After a few failed attempts of swatting them away, I opened my eyes a crack to see who it was.

"S-Su? What are you…what are you doing in here?" Upon further inspection, I could see that she was absolutely terrified. I sat up in my bed. "What's wrong?"

"Krystel….look out the window." She pointed over to the window in our room. "I'm really scared."

I got up and walked over to it, only to be met with something I never wanted to see in my life; the Dark Mark. My breath caught in my throat, and I started to panic.

"What's going on? And where is everyone else?" No one else was in their beds.

"They all tried to wake you up, but you wouldn't get up. Hermione's out fighting, but Lavender and Parvati are with Terry downstairs in the dungeons."

I had started to gather up a few things in my bag - laptop, my cell phone (which I had never used in the school, but thought might be handy to use to talk to my dad if something were to happen), blanket, chap stick – when I stopped short. "What do you mean, fighting?"

Su sounded like she was about to cry. "There are Death Eaters in here, Krys…they're in the school."

I didn't say another word. I grabbed Su by the arm and yanked her out of the room. We bolted down to the dungeons, having to dodge a few spells along the way. Su was quick enough to shoot a few out while we were running, but I wasn't that talented or coordinated.

When we got there, I could see that there were multitudes of students crowded in there, but I was surprised at how quiet they all were. Usually, when a large group of teenagers are gathered together, it's pretty loud; but I then realized that they were probably being quiet to save their lives.

I'm a smart one.

"There they are!" Su said, grabbing my arm and rushing me over to where our little group was. Su flung herself into Terry's arms. I sat down next to Parvati, who had a look of sheer terror on her face. Lavender was trying to hide the fact that she was crying.

"Why didn't you tell me there were Death Eaters in the school?" I said, pulling out my cell phone as I heard various thuds above me.

"I tried," she started, pulling Lavender into a hug, "but you kept slapping me away. I gave up and told Su to do it. Our last resort was going to be to pull you out of the bed by your feet."

"Thanks for not doing that." I pushed the button to turn the phone on. It made a beep noise, which echoed through the dungeon, but it stopped as soon as the phone finished coming on.

"What are you doing?" Terry asked, pointing at my phone.

"I'm calling my dad. I want to know if he knows what's going on."

Su shook her head. "Don't bother. No one knows what's going on. Everyone is either upstairs, fighting the Death Eaters, or hiding somewhere, trying to protect themselves. All we can really do is stay down here and wait."

"Ok," I said, putting my phone back in my bag. The only sounds we heard after that were low whispers, muffled thuds, screams, and spell casts, and various people crying throughout the dungeon.

The hours passed, the thuds decreased, and, eventually, the muffled sounds stopped all together. The five of us had all cuddled together, holding each other, saying that if this was our last moments, if we were to go at any moment, that we loved each other, and that we were honored to be together in our last seconds.

"Is it over?," a young sounding boy asked after it had been quiet for a while, "is it done?"

"I don't know," a girl said, "I'll go look."

'She's really brave,' I thought to myself. 'She should get a medal for just peeking outside.'

The door flung open before the girl could open it. Professor Sprout stood in the doorway, looking positively wrecked.

"Is everyone all right? Are you all okay?"

A few people squeaked 'yes', but most stayed silent.

"Students, I…I have some bad news…Professor Dumbledore…our beloved Dumbledore…he is…he is dead."

The dungeon echoed with the sounds of sobbing students, mourning the loss of their beloved Headmaster. I joined in, not because I knew him well, but because he had showed such generosity and kindness to me from the moment I stepped into the castle.

We were all escorted out of the dungeon. Professor Sprout told all of us to go back to our beds, but I knew that I couldn't do that. There was no way in Hell that I could even function normally enough to find my way back to the dorms. Looking at the other four members of my group, I could tell that they were the same way. Su and Terry were standing up, holding each other, sobbing relentlessly into each other's shoulders. Parvati had apparently found Padma through the crowd, because they were both sitting on the floor, holding hands, crying. The halls were filled with wails; not only from the students, but the ghosts, poltergeists, and people in the portraits scattered all around the school.

I walked around the halls, looking for a quiet spot. Once, I found one, I took my phone out and immediately called my dad.

"Krystel? Is that you?"

"Dad! Oh my God, Dad...something terrible just happened, I can't even…Dad, I'm so scared, I just…"

"I'm on my way with the Ministry. I'm coming to get you. You can't stay there. I need you to go to your room and start packing up your things, okay? Do you understand?"

"Dad, what is going on?"

"I'll explain it all when I get there, okay? I promise. Be safe. I love you."

Click.

I closed my phone and went in the direction of my dorm. Lavender and Parvati were already headed in that direction, with Terry and Su right behind them (they didn't want to be alone at that moment). We all went up to our room and started packing, crying the whole way there.

~*~

The opening scene of the film "The Graduate" came into my mind as I sat across from my dad on the train back to England. Dustin Hoffman's character, Benjamin, is shown riding on one of those moving walkways they have in airports, with "The Sound Of Silence" by Simon and Garfunkel playing the whole way through. The camera never veers, or changes angle, but it conveys the meaning all the same; Benjamin felt lost, scared, and as if he had no control over what was going to happen in his life from that point on.

That was exactly how I felt as I watched the fields and trees pass by. Dad came at about 2:30 that morning. He spoke to a few of the professors; McGonagall included, and learned some more information about what had happened. As he helped me move my trunk to the train, he told me that Professor Snape had murdered Dumbledore, and that he had run off with that Draco kid that Harry had told me about a few days before. He said that there was to be a funeral for Dumbledore in the next day or so, and that many of the students were going to stay.

When he spoke about Professor Snape, his voice tended to catch in his throat. I asked him about it, but he didn't really give me any details, only saying that him and Snape knew each other when they were in school, and that he couldn't have ever imagined him doing something like what he did.

I was informed that I would be moving back to America in the next month, and that I would be staying with Lorissa, my grandmother, and my aunt Michelle, since my mom was still sick. He said that since he was a part of the Ministry of Magic, he felt that I might be at a higher danger risk than some of the other students. He also arranged for me to be enrolled at Ashberry again, for my final year of school.

As much as I had missed Ashberry, and my friends back home, I knew that going back there was going to be difficult. I wanted to stay at Hogwarts. I couldn't explain why; I didn't even know if they were going to be operating the next year. I just wanted to be there, to be a part of everything that happened there.

Harry's face appeared in my mind, and I stifled the urge to cry. I hadn't said a word to him since we kissed. I didn't get to say good-bye to him. I didn't know if I was going to see him again.

I looked over at my dad, and saw that he was asleep. It looked like a good idea. I grabbed my blanket out of my bag and, after curling up in it, drifted off into a restless nap.

~*~

"Here, honey, come up to your room," Michelle said to me as Lorissa and I dragged my trunk up the stairs, "we haven't touched your room since the last time you were here." Dad had shuffled myself and all of my things into his fireplace and Floo Powdered me into my grandma's house. He thought it would be a lot easier to do that than to fly everything back to America.

"Plus," he said, wiping the sweat off of his brow after shoving my trunk in beside me, "you'd need a whole airplane to yourself to get everything across the ocean!"

The house used to be inhabited by my grandparents and my mom, but after my grandpa passed away and my mom moved out with my dad, Michelle came to stay with grandma. Even though they were sisters, and not too far apart in age (my grandma was only a year and a few months older), they had been best friends their entire lives. The two of them practically remodeled the house, making everyone their own little living spaces. Mine consisted of vivid red walls and Asian-inspired furniture, with a large picture of U2 hanging on the wall above my bed. I loved staying in this room, since it was more me than any other room I had.

"Jesus, girl, what do you have in here?" Lorissa said as she helped me push the huge trunk across the carpet into my room.

"Oh, only my life." I collapsed on my bed, out of breath, and grossly sweaty. Lorissa joined me, just as uncomfortable as I was.

Grandma came in, not two seconds later, with tall glasses of cold water for us. We both said thank you and drank it as though we were dying of thirst.

"I'm so glad you could be here, Krystel," grandma said, sitting down on the bed next to us, "even though the circumstances are less than wonderful. I know this has to be rough for you, having been there and having seen all of it, but we'll all do what we can to make this easiest for you. Right, Lorissa?"

Lorissa nodded while guzzling down her water. "Yeah, I'll be here, and we can always have everybody else come over. They don't live too far away, you know." She put her arm around me. "We'll all be here."

"Thank you, guys, but I think I'd rather be alone in here while I put stuff away."

Grandma nodded, and they both left. "Remember," she said before she closed the door, "we'll be downstairs if you need anything."

"Thanks, grandma." She shut the door. I went around and turned all of my lights on. Opening my closet, I started hanging up my clothes, but soon gave up due to my hangover from my crappy nap. I turned off all the lights, locked the door, and crawled into bed extremely early, just wanting the day to be over with.

I fell asleep thinking of Harry's lips on mine.

~*~

"Krys! Krys! Open up!" I woke up about a week later to Lorissa pounding on my door. Incredibly groggy, I opened up the door, squinting from the light that came pouring in.

"What?!" I said, rubbing my eyes, acting as grumpy as I could. I wondered who had put Lorissa up to the task of waking me up; I had kicked Michelle a few times before, and had cursed out grandma a couple of times. I still had not done anything to Lorissa, but she knew how I was in the mornings, so she tended to stay away.

"A ridiculously large letter came for you in the mail," she handed the envelope to me, "with no return address. It looks like one of those anthrax letters from a few years ago. I didn't open it, because I didn't want to get sick."

I took it from her and looked at it carefully. She was right; there was no return address. It had been written to my dad's address, but I could see that he forwarded it on to me. Whoever wrote the address on the envelope must have done it in a hurry, because I could barely read it. It really did look like one of those anthrax letters.

"Oh, so you want me to get sick?" I said, flipping the envelope over and sliding my finger along the glue.

"Of course not! I just figured you'd want to know who sent you a creeper letter. If you get sick," she shrugged playfully, "I'll just go with you to the hospital and keep you company."

I rolled my eyes, stuck out my tongue, and took the letter back into my room. Turning on the light on my desk, I put my glasses on and started reading.

_Dear Krystel – _

_It seems strange for me to be writing a letter to you, especially of the magnitude and intensity that will be contained in this one. But, there are so many things that I have wished to say to you, but never got the opportunity to. That, and I messed up so many times, and I was never able to completely apologize for my inexcusable actions._

_So, first thing's first, that apology that I have owed you all year. I am sorry for everything I've done or said that has caused you pain. I never meant for that to be the case; there was just so many things happening all at once that I just lost track of my common sense. I never wanted to do anything to hurt you, but I did, and I'm sorry. I'm sure that doesn't resolve it, but I hope that it can, at least, ease the contempt you have for me._

_Second, I need to let you know that I will not be at Hogwarts next year. I do not even know if you will be in England next year, since everything that has happened, but I didn't want to you expect to see me if you were. I am going on a bit of an expedition. I am going to be going out and looking for items that contain pieces of Voldemort's soul, otherwise known as Horcruxes. You see, in order to achieve immortality, Voldemort split his soul into seven pieces. Dumbledore destroyed a few, but he left me the task of discovering the rest and destroying them. Once they are all destroyed, Voldemort can be defeated. And the only one that can defeat him is me. He and I…we have a connection that I cannot put into words. That fateful night pinned him and I against each other. Only one of us can remain in this world, and I am determined to take him down before he can get to me._

_Third, I want you to know exactly what has gone through my mind concerning you. When I met you, I thought that you would be a fun person to talk with, and nothing else. To be honest with you, I did think you were attractive, but I already had my eyes on Ginny. I know that's not what you want to hear, but don't start burning this letter yet. As I began to be around you, and to get to know you, I felt myself being drawn towards you. Our late night talks really let me see who you were, and just how beautiful you are, inside and out. That night that you gave me a backrub (it felt silly to write that down…), when we looked at each other…I don't know if you remember that moment, but I do. It was the moment that I knew that I was falling for you._

_I asked you to Slughorn's party with full intentions of asking you to be my girlfriend. It didn't turn out that way, of course. I had to leave to speak with Dumbledore about a development concerning what I was to do regarding Voldemort. I wanted to explain it to you, and to ask you anyways, but when I saw you were with Seamus, I decided to leave you be. I asked Ginny to be my girlfriend instead. When we came back, and I heard that you and Seamus had broken up, I knew that it wouldn't be right for me to just end it with Ginny and start chasing after you again. I stayed with Ginny, and we seemed to be just fine. I won't lie to you; I did like her a lot._

_When we talked at the lake, I tried to explain what was going on without letting on that I had feelings for you. But, after you told me you were in love with me, I didn't know what to do. I felt very confused. I wouldn't have done anything with Ginny had you not said something to me. Please, do not feel guilty about what happened between her and I. It turned out anyways that she was with me to please a childhood fantasy of hers, and that she had been snogging Dean Thomas behind my back. I wanted to talk to you so much, to tell you everything, but I just didn't know what to say, or how to say it. When I kissed you, I meant it. I know you meant it as well when you kissed me back. I wish that I could have told you all of this sooner, or that I could have seen you before you left._

_I won't be anywhere where you can write me, so don't try to write me back. This journey is going to be incredibly difficult for me, but I won't be alone. Ron and Hermione insisted on coming with me, even after I told them no repeatedly. I almost wish that I could have you with me as well, but I would never want to put you in that much danger._

_I will be thinking about you everyday. I can honestly say that I am in love with you, and that I have been for some time now. I hope you can believe me when I say that. This letter is incredibly difficult for me to write, as I know I will not receive anything back in return, and I won't know for some time if you ever received it. Please, try not to worry about me. I will be all right, I promise you._

_Be careful and stay safe. _

_With all of my love,_

_Harry_

I held the letter in my hands, tears threatening to fall down my cheek. He never admitted it, but I could tell by his shaky handwriting and a few possible tearstains that this was his good bye to me if he didn't come back. I couldn't think about that possibility, though; it was too hard for me to even consider. I wanted to see Harry again. I needed to see him.

"Hey, Krys, you okay?" Lorissa said, standing at the doorway. When she saw how I looked, she came rushing over, throwing her arms around me.

"Honey, what is it?"

I started to cry into her shoulder, unable to tell her. I couldn't wrap my mind around it.

'He loves me,' I thought, 'but he might not be coming back. I may never see him again.'

"Shh, it's okay," Lorissa patted my back, trying to comfort me, but there was nothing she could do. I just sobbed harder, knowing that until I saw Harry Potter again, and knew that he was all right, I wasn't going to be the same.

This year was going to be extremely hard for me.

**A/N: Wow, depressing chapter to write! It was really hard to read the scene where Dumbledore passed again…really hard. I almost started crying again. I hope you enjoyed it, and the rest of the chapters shouldn't be as depressing. And yes, this story does have a happy ending…but I won't say how it ends. Muahaha.**

**Thank you for reading and reviewing, everyone! It really means a lot, and it keeps me motivated! Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU!!**


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: New chapter! Woo hoo! Have fun reading this! ^_^**

**Love all of you guys!**

**Ch. 12  
**

The summer flew by quicker than I thought it would, and, pretty soon, it was almost time for me to go back to Ashberry. The four of us went out and got Lorissa's and my school supplies, with me only paying half attention to what was going on. My attention was set on the other wizards and witches that were around the market we were in.

"…Very dangerous, for all of us here…"

"…I can't believe they are keeping the other schools open, including Ashberry, after what happened in Hogwarts…"

"...Everyone should be on high alert…"

"…This may be the end…"

It was a relief to get back into the car Michelle had parked outside of the Sears that served as a distraction from our magical market. It seemed that wherever I went, I heard things about how we were all in danger, and that everything in the wizarding world was falling apart at the seams. It just made me worry about Harry even more. I wondered where he was and what he was doing every second of the day. He even showed up in my dreams occasionally, assuring me that he was all right. I knew it was my subconscious, though, telling me that…still, it did help a little to hear those words coming out of his mouth, even if it was just in my head.

We were all in the process of unloading our bags when, suddenly, my father rolled out of the fireplace in the living room.

"Ben!" my grandmother screamed, running over to help him up. "What on earth are you doing here? Is everything all right?"

He shook his head, an expression of panic filling his face. "No, Sarah. Everything's not all right. They got the Ministry. Scrimgeour's dead. They killed him. They killed him!" Grandma helped him lay down on the couch. I ran over and sat down on the floor by him. Michelle and Lorissa followed suit.

"Dad, slow down. What's going on?"

Dad sighed, running a hand through his hair. "There's a trace put out on his name, so I can't say it, like I normally would…so it will be You-Know-Who. You all understand?"

We all nodded.

"Scrimgeour is dead due to You-Know-Who and his followers. They've infiltrated the Ministry and taken it over. They're putting Muggle-born wizards and witches on trial, and making them register themselves. It's not safe there for me, or for any Ministry workers, for that matter. I got out of there as soon as I could, and I figured this would be the best place for me to go. Thank you, Sarah," he took the glass of water from grandma's hand. "There's only one person who would ever think to look for me here, but he has a lot more to worry about than finding me. I pose no threat to him now."

"Who?" Lorissa asked, sounding a little scared. "Who would know to find you here? Are we in danger?"

"No, honey, we're in no danger," Michelle said, putting her hands on Lorissa's shoulders, all the while, shooting a dirty look at my dad. "Don't worry about it. We're all okay here." She turned Lorissa around and looked her straight in the eyes. "Now, how about you go to your room for a bit? I need to speak with your uncle here."

"Why can't I know what's going on?" She asked, her tone a little defensive. "I'm old enough."

"Honey, we don't want to scare you…I just need to talk to him for a minute about something, that's all. Go on."

"Fine. Whatever. This is dumb." Lorissa turned and stomped off. My dad tapped me on the shoulder, and, with a head jerk, told me that I had to leave as well.

I sighed loudly, got up, and followed Lorissa up to her room. As soon as I walked in, she slammed the door behind me and let out a frustrated growl/scream. She flopped down on her bed.

"I can't believe that! Your dad is talking about dangerous shit, and I-we get shuffled out of the room like little kids! Fucking shit! I'm not a kid anymore, you know? I'm almost 16! Gaaahh!!" She got up off of her bed and started pacing, only stopping to look me straight in the eyes.

"You know what? I bet they're talking about my parents."

I felt one of my eyebrows rise up. "Your parents? Why do you think that?"

She resumed her pacing. "Grandma ALWAYS does that when she is talking to someone about my parents! It really pisses me off! I don't understand why she does that…and, your dad said something about someone knowing where to find him, and she got all defensive and shit. It's about them, I know it is."

"Settle. I'm sure it's not."

She sat down on her bed. "I've decided something, just now."

"What's that?"

"I'm breaking into my mom's room."

~*~

"I still can't believe you're doing this," I said as I watched a hunched over Lorissa attempt to pick the lock with a bobby pin. She had been sitting on the computer for hours, watching videos on YouTube about how to pick locks, just for that moment. "If Michelle sees you, you will not be alive."

"I deserve to have some answers, and, if they're not going to give them to me, I'm going to get them myself. There we go," she said after we both heard a click. It seemed to echo throughout the hallway.

"We both won't be alive, for that matter…" I said as we quickly shuffled into the room. Lorissa shut the door as quietly as she could. She then flipped on the light switch.

"Wow…creepy."

Lorissa nodded in agreement. It was creepy. The last time that Annemarie had stepped foot in that room was nearly 20 years ago, and it looked like it hadn't been touched since then. Everything seemed to have been in the place that she had last left it. The room itself contained some strange vibes; not only the feeling of intruding, but a negative, almost evil vibe that pervaded the whole space.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" I looked over at Lorissa. She was rubbing her bare arms, trying to get the goose bumps that popped up to go down. I did the same. I heard her swallow.

"Yeah, I'm sure." She then walked over to her mom's desk and started pulling out drawers, searching for anything that would tell her about her parents.

~*~

"Okay, so, what have we learned so far?" I said as we both sat on Annemarie's bed, exhausted and covered in sweat and 20 year old dust (gross, right?).

"Well, so far, we learned that she was a Ravenclaw," she pointed to the large Ravenclaw banner on the wall, "that she hung out with your parents," she pointed to a picture on her desk, "and that she dressed like a hippie when she wasn't wearing her Hogwarts uniform," she gestured towards the closet filled with truly vintage 1960s clothing; if I were as thin as she was, I would have been all over those clothes in a second. "Trouble is, we already knew all of that stuff."

"We've got nothing, hon. Nothing."

She sighed, and started swinging her feet – Annemarie's bed was pretty high up off the ground. "I know. I just thought there may be something, anything in this roo- ow, what the fuck was that?" Lorissa instantly flipped over on her stomach and looked under the bed. "Holy shit – hey, help me pull this out!"

We both got down on our knees, grabbed the sides of whatever it was that was under the bed, and pulled. After a few minutes of tugging and dragging, we got the thing out in the middle of the room.

It was a huge metal box, covered in a ton of thick dust. Lorissa wasted no time in picking the large lock with her trusty bobby pin. After a few minutes of clicks and her saying "Damnit!" after trying to pull the lock off, she got it off.

She lifted the lid up, then flipped it over, which made a really loud "thud" sound. We both froze, waiting for the sounds of someone, anyone, walking down the stairs to catch us. We didn't hear any, so we started digging around in the box.

It was almost as if fate had made Lorissa find the box. It looked like Annemarie had used it for a memory box; it was full of things like old jewelry, stuffed animals, and various quills and notes she had taken in school. There were countless photos (nearly all of them taken with a regular camera, since they didn't move) of Annemarie with my mom and the family during Christmas celebrations; some at the house we were in, and some at what I assumed to be Michelle's old house in England. There were a few moving photos of her and various people, including my dad and a beautiful girl who looked an awful lot like Seamus' mom.

"Krys, look at this." Lorissa gestured for me to lean over and look at the maroon box she was holding. It was filled with papers and parchment, containing elegant script.

"What is all of that?"

"They look like letters," she said, picking a few up and examining them. "All from the same person."

"All of them?" I asked, shocked. There had to be at least 200 sheets of paper in that little box.

She nodded. "Yeah. They're all signed with a funky looking S."

"Gimme some of those." Lorissa handed me a few pages, and I proceeded to scan them over. She was right, all of them were written by the same person, and all were signed with a weird looking S. All of them were dated as well; which, by doing some simple subtraction, told me the ones I was looking at were from the summer after Annemarie's 7th year.

We looked up at each other at nearly the same time, realization flooding our bodies. We had found something that Annemarie had not wanted anyone else to see.

These were no ordinary letters. These were the most mushy, gushy, sappy, fluffy, and sticky love letters that I had ever seen.

"God, I feel like I'm covered in sap after reading just a few lines of this," Lorissa said, going through a few more pages. "This is ridiculous!"

"Oh, listen to this; 'Being apart from you for these few weeks has made my soul feel empty. I long for your touch, your warmth, your love. I long to have your eyes on mine, knowing that all I see is you, and all you see is me.' This is serious stuff," I grabbed a few more, scanning them over. "All of these are like that."

"Either these are from a creepy stalker my mom had, or..." she stopped suddenly.

"What?"

She put a hand up to her mouth. "They're…these…"

"What?"

She looked at me, tears welling up in her eyes. "They're from my dad." She snatched the letters from my hands and stuffed them back in the maroon box, taking it out of the larger box. She closed the lid on the metal box and forcefully shoved it back under the bed.

"What are you doing?" I asked, watching her stand up, the box tucked carefully under her left arm.

"I'm taking all of these to school with me, and I'm going to read them."

"Honey, what if-" She flipped me the bird as she walked out the door. After taking a final look around the room, I got up, dusted myself off, and went out after her. When I got up the stairs, she had already made her way to her room. Upon inspection, I found that she had already locked her door. Much to my dismay, Lorissa's room could only be locked from the inside. There was no keyhole. I sighed and went to my room, dead set on finishing packing.

I lasted all of 15 minutes before I fell asleep on top of my huge pile of squishy clothes.

~*~

The halls were all a buzz when Lorissa and I finally arrived at Ashberry the next evening. Like I've mentioned before, while not as gossipy as Hogwarts, things did not stay quiet for long at Ashberry – the whispers were about my one-year sabbatical across the ocean.

Walking down the 7th year hallway was like walking in another dimension. I had never realized how narrow and bright the halls here were until coming back from Hogwarts. The whole school was a blip on the radar compared to Hogwarts. I began to feel claustrophobic when I walked into the room I'd be living in for the next year.

"AAAHHHH!!!" Emily screamed, running towards me and throwing her arms around me. She swung me back and forth in the most emotion-filled hug I had ever received. I looked over at Lema, who was trying not to laugh.

"Hi, Emily." I started trying to nudge Emily off of me. She eventually got the message and let go, moving her hands from my back to my face, pinching my cheeks like I was 5, and she was my annoying, crazy aunt.

"I'm so happy that you're back! You have no idea what I went through without you last year. It was like half of me was missing!" She started petting my hair. "Oh, look at you…you're so pretty."

"Umm, thanks, Em," I said, taking her hands down and heading over to Lema. "Hey, Lema! I missed you!"

"I missed you, too!" She gave me a wonderful hug, her black hair practically engulfing me. She had thick hair. "This year is going to be great, I can feel it."

I nodded, half smiling. I wasn't sure I could totally agree…but I felt that putting on a face would be a good move for the time being, until I could really tell them all what happened.

"Geez, you and your crazy wardrobe," Emily said, holding up an electric pink shirt. " 'All my black shirts are dirty.' Classy, hon."

"Hey, gimme that," I snatched it out of her hand, sticking my tongue out at her. "Why are you all up in my grill, anyways?"

"Figured I'd help you unpack, that's all." She collapsed on her bed and sighed. "This is our last year, girls. The last one."

"I know, isn't it scary?" Lema started hanging up her clothes. "I was thinking about that on my way down here. After this year…we're adults. Legit adults."

"Depressing!" I said, throwing a pillow at Lema, who let out a squeak and dodged it. "None of that! That's the last thing we need."

'I need,' I thought to myself. 'That's the last thing I need.'

~*~

After I had unpacked and got most of my things organized, Tim hunted me town and pulled me out of the room, saying that he had to "rescue the princess from the fire breathing dragons" (to which Emily flipped him off). He basically dragged me out of the school and over to the Starbucks around the corner.

"Tim! Tim! TIIIM!!"

He turned around. "What?"

"I don't have my purse. You dragged me out before I could get it."

He laughed a bit and shook his head. "My treat."

"Umm…ok."

We both went up and ordered (his, a boring vanilla late; mine, an iced raspberry mocha – yum yum!), and, when we received our drinks, he grabbed my arm again and shuffled me over to one of the outside tables.

"Okay, now, spill." He said once I was sitting down.

I took a sip of my mocha and just stared at him. "What?"

"Spill! I want to know everything!"

I stared at him some more. "Umm…about what, exactly?"

Tim's eyes grew wide, like I was crazy for not knowing what he was talking about. "Your year! The battle! All of it! I've been keeping tabs on Hogwarts all year, just waiting for something to happen, and then it did, and you haven't said a THING to me about it! Now, spill! Tell me everything!"

"Okay…but first you have to settle down."

He put his hands in his lap and straightened up his shoulders, obviously making fun of me for telling him to calm down. "Is that calm enough for you?"

I rolled my eyes at him. "Whatever. Don't make me throw my straw wrapper at you."

He put his hands up. "Hey, that's uncalled for."

I smiled, and then immediately delved into my story. I told him everything that happened that night, when all hell broke loose, and Lavender, Parvati, Su, Terry, and I all hid in the dungeons. I mentioned every sound, every scream, every thud that I had heard while down there. I mentioned the fact that I didn't get to see Harry before I left, and, before I could tell him about the letter, he shot me a questioning look.

"Did you guys hook up?"

My eyes got wide, and I nervously laughed.

"That means you did! You guys hooked up! Details, details, please!"

"Geez, Tim, we didn't hook up. Though," I paused for dramatic effect, "we did kiss."

".God. And you didn't tell me this WHY?" He made a fake dive for my neck, as if he wanted to strangle me.

"Because…it wasn't something that I could enjoy."

He put his hands up. "No. Harry Fucking Potter CANNOT be a bad kisser. That defies the laws of physics. He survived that attack, he should AT LEAST be able to give a kiss."

"I never said he was a bad kisser. It was just not good timing." I then went on to explain the circumstances of it all. I then pulled out The Letter and handed it to him (yes, I carried it with me…pathetic, I know). Tim took it and intensely read it.

"…Damn," he said, after finishing it, handing it back to me. "That's intense."

"I know, right?" I put it back in my purse. "It really is, especially since-" my voice caught a little in my throat. I tried to hide it by clearing my throat, but Tim caught it. There was no hiding it from him.

"I know." He got up and hugged me fiercely. "I'm here, you know."

"I know."

He broke off the hug and sat back down. "Well, at least you can say you're here, in America, a whole ocean away from the main drama. You're a hell of a lot safer over here than you would be there."

I nodded, sighing. Even though I was safer, and I was glad to be back, a little part of me wanted to be back at Hogwarts, being brave and trying to resist all the evil that was happening. I especially wanted to tell Snape where to stick it for what he did to Dumbledore…even though I'd probably get killed for it.

Oh well. I'd go down in history as "the girl who died from telling Snape where to go".

Pretty cool, no?

Anyways…

"Hey," Tim said, after a small period of silence. "We're all glad to have you back."

"Thanks, honey. I'm glad to be back."

He smiled, and we spent the rest of the afternoon outside the Starbucks, somewhat enjoying the muggy Indiana heat, but mostly sharing in our stickiness and worries about our hair.

~*~

Tim strummed a G chord on his guitar, tuning each string slightly until it rang out the correct, in tune note. I was standing up next to him, lightly holding on to the music stand in front of me. Before we had left the Starbucks, he brought up the possibility of performing something for the year-end talent show. He somewhat hinted at a reunion of Winnie and the Poohs (.), but I was the first one he had asked.

"Besides," he started, "I miss jamming with you. And just you. You're the cool one to jam with."

Tim had tossed a packet of random song lyrics at me, saying that these songs were "potentials" in his book. I hadn't really had the time to look at them before we got the choir room to ourselves, but I was rather excited that the first song in the packet was one that I was incredibly familiar with.

He strummed the G chord again and looked over at me, looking to see if I was ready. I nodded, signaling that I was. He began to pick out the first song that we were going to see about performing.

"I've heard there was a secret chord/That David played, and it pleased the Lord/But you don't really care for music, do you?" The words poured out of me, as if they were coming from some spiritual plane. Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah" was one of my all time favorite songs ever written, and I had countless covers of it. It always struck me as a lonely, haunting, beautiful song that just needed total emotional surrender to be sung correctly.

When my voice started to give out when I sang low, we decided to stop and try it again later, after he figured out what the chords would be in the next key up. Turning to the next page, I stopped for a minute, looking from the page to Tim, and back again.

"What?" He said, looking confused at my reaction.

"The next song. You can't be serious."

"What is it? I don't even remember."

"Tim…its Scarborough Fair."

He stared at me with a 'what's-the-big-deal' look.

I rolled my eyes and turned the page over. He stood up and caught the page before it flipped all the way over. "No, no, no, no, don't do that. Why are you doing that?"

"That song's too hard! I can't sing that!"

"Yes, you can. You can sing it. I'll sing the bottom, you take the melody."

I shook my head. "No, there's no way. I can't even sing along with it. No. Not doing it."

"Krys, come on-"

"No! I'm not doing it!" I flung the packet at him, turned around, and walked out of the room, steaming for really no other reason that I could think of, but that I was, most likely, seriously PMSing.

~*~

One of my favorite places to go in Ashberry was a little tiny room, just off of the 4th year dormitories, virtually undetectable to the rest of the student body. I discovered it by – how else – tripping over my own feet and falling into it. It was missing a doorknob, so the door just opened, revealing the little hole in the wall that I claimed, from that moment, was mine, and mine only.

I decided to ring in my birthday in this room; surrounded by the little nick-knacks and various pillows I had placed in there to make it feel homier. Bringing my laptop, some candles, and a collection of 4 mint brownies from Starbucks with me, I crept into the room, closing the door and putting a random brick that had always been in there in front of it.

'Yes,' I thought to myself, whispering Lumos to all of my candles, 'this is perfect. I don't want to be anywhere else right now.'

…To tell you the truth, dear reader, I did want to be somewhere else, preferably in the company of a certain green-eyed boy. But, as a way to kind of substitute his presence, I brought The Letter with me, and laid it on the ground next to me.

Opening my laptop, I put on my collection of relaxing, fun loving, chilling out music, starting with, of course, "Birthday" by the Beatles. I then checked my email, clearing out the various spam and junk mail as I came upon it (isn't it funny how you always get emails, when you're a female, about making your penis bigger? I don't quite understand their logic.). I almost clicked the little check box next to one of them when I looked a little closer.

It was from someone named "Suusuu", and the subject read, "You are not going to believe this." At first, I was afraid to open it, thinking that there might have been a new virus floating around. But, I remembered a brief statement that Su had made in one of our many conversations, saying that her mom called her "Su-Su". So, I clicked on it.

_Tap your laptop. Say fmr HM's name. Do not tell, or do around others. Could be big trouble if he found out._

_Love you. Be careful. I'll write soon._

Yeah, it was Su. Something was just telling me it was. I reread the email several times, trying to figure out what she was saying, before it finally hit me: she was telling me to tap my laptop and to say Dumbledore's name, since he was the "former Headmaster".

I silently commended Su for her thought-provoking abbreviations, and did just what she told me. When I whispered "Albus", my music stopped, and a strange, black box appeared on my computer screen.

I don't know how she figured it out. I don't know if someone told her that I could pick up the airwaves through my computer, or if it was sheer chance that it worked, but I was able to pick up "Potterwatch", an underground radio station run by someone named "River" that kept tabs on Harry, and reported news that the Daily News didn't. That night, they were talking to a few students under the code names of "Dewey", "Starlight", and "Rosebud" – who turned out to be Neville, a girl named Hannah, and, to my delight, Su. I had to keep myself from squealing when I heard her voice.

'No wonder she wanted me to listen in,' I thought, settling in to listen for any new information on Harry and what was happening at Hogwarts.

~*~

As soon as I walked into the dining hall the morning of my birthday, I was attacked with hugs, love, and screams of "HAPPY BIRTHDAY, KRYSSIE!" Since I had been up nearly the whole night, listening to Potterwatch and eating my mint brownies, I wasn't in the greatest of moods at that point. I needed my coffee.

Emily grabbed my hand and led me over to our table, where the biggest pot of coffee I have ever seen sat right in the middle. "You know," she said, sliding into an open chair, "I had to pull a lot of strings to get that big ass pot."

"Yay!" I said, leaning over to smell it. Starbucks mochas have a certain smell to them…and this pot definitely contained that. I felt myself wake up a little after my first big gulp.

"Hey, did you sleep at all last night?" Tim asked, pointing his egg-filled fork at me. "You've got some really bad dark rings."

"I do?" My hands flew instinctively to my face. I hadn't even looked in a mirror yet. "Oh. No, I didn't really sleep last night."

He stuffed his mouth full of eggs, then resumed talking. "That's not good. You should sleep before your birthday! We always do fun stuff on each other's birthdays. You know that."

I took another big gulp of mocha goodness. "I know. I was busy catching up on some Hogwarts affairs." That didn't count as telling them about Potterwatch, did it? I didn't think it did.

"Hey, everyone!" Lorissa said, sitting down next to me, giving me a hug. "Happy birthday, cuz."

"Thank you, honey." I grabbed the coffee pot and immediately poured her a cup. "Enjoy the goodness. Courtesy of Emily."

"Thanks." She took a big gulp as well.

"You don't look like you slept, either! What's with you guys?" Tim took a drink of his milk. "Must be a family thing or something. What's your excuse, Lorissa?"

"I was up reading some things." She shot me an "I-need-to-talk-to-you-like-NOW" look. I knew immediately what it was about – she was reading the letters she took from her mom's room. "Didn't get a chance to sleep."

"You both should nap," Emily said, jumping in the conversation. "None of the teachers are caring right now, since our fall break is soon. Blame it on emotional distress or something like that." She took a bite of a donut, seeming to savor every bit of its delectable goodness. It made me want one.

"I might just do that," Lorissa said, looking down at her food, and then pushing it away. "I'm not hungry, anyways."

I gobbled up what was left of my pancake, finished my coffee, and followed her out of the hall.

"Lori!" I caught up to her fairly quickly. She turned around and gave me that look again. "What's up, sweetie? You always eat your food."

"I'm really not hungry. I don't feel like eating." She sighed. "I don't feel like doing much, honestly."

"Why? What's up?"

She looked me square in the eye. "I figured it out."

I was confused. "Figured what out, hon?"

"Who he was. Or, rather, who he is."

I froze. "Your dad?"

She nodded, her face darkening even more by the second.

"So…he's alive, then?"

Another nod.

"Well, who is he, then? What's his name?"

Lorissa dug in her jeans pocket and pulled out a folded up newspaper clipping. "Does this man look familiar to you?"

I unfolded the clipping. It was taken out of the Daily Prophet, and it was recent. It was about Professor Snape becoming Headmaster at Hogwarts, something I had just discovered the night before. The picture showed Snape looking very solemn and angry; his dark eyes were blazing at me through the paper. I almost felt like he was reading my mind through the newspaper.

"Yeah, that's Professor Snape, but I don't see what this has to do with…anything…no." It dawned on me what she was trying to tell me. Looking back up at her, I realized where I had seen those black eyes of Snape's before.

Lorissa. She had those eyes.

She had his eyes.

"No, that can't be right."

A tear started to run down her cheek.

"Honey…" I couldn't think of anything to say to her. All I could do was hug her as she started to cry into my shoulder, shaking and trembling all over. I rubbed her back, tears sliding down my cheeks as well. After a few minutes, she broke the hug, wiping her cheeks and her nose on her sleeve. She then grabbed my hand and started walking towards her dorm hallway.

"Come on. I think you should see the letters."

**A/N: OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!**

**I've been waiting to write that little plot bunny since I started this bloody story. W00t! Don't worry, all will be explained in the next chapter. Also, the Ashberry time is going to go by kind of fast, so just hang with it…if you get confused, let me know in a review or something, and I'll go back and tweak it to make more sense.**

**Oh, and sorry for the length…I just couldn't end it until I got the last plot bunny out of the way. You understand. :P**

**YAY!! Thanks to everyone for reading, reviewing, and even favoriting this story! It means a lot. Seriously.**

**I'll get the next chapter up ASAP – second semester of college just started for me, and I already have a bunch of homework. Bleh. I'm in too deep with this story now to just stop writing. I'll find time.**

**Review, please! Love ya 333**


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: Okay, so this might be a heavy chapter…it's mainly going to be about the letters from Snape to Annemarie, but there might be a few other things thrown in the mix. I know I said all would be explained in this chapter, but not really…almost everything will be. Heh. Gotta keep some things secret for a while longer. ^_^**

**Enjoy!**

**Random disclaimer: I wish I would have been given the opportunity to come up with this wonderful series, but I didn't. JK Rowling received that honor. The universe belongs to her; I just stuck a few random characters in with it.**

**Ch. 13  
**

When we got into Lorissa's room, I stopped in the doorway from the shock of the place. There were papers EVERYWHERE; all of them being lined notebook paper with scribbles on them. "It looks like a hurricane blew through here!"

"Yeah, well, I was keeping track of things I read," she grabbed the pile of papers off of her chair and gestured for me to sit in it. I opted instead to sit on her bed. "It all got a little crazy after a while, and I started throwing the papers around after I had written something on them."

"I understand, honey." I watched her pick up more of the papers, gathering them into a pile as she did so. This took her a few more minutes, even with me joining in and helping her. After she had sorted them in piles, she grabbed the pile of faded parchment on her desk, and gave it to me. She hung on to the notebook paper.

"Why did you give me the letters?" I asked, flipping through them. They were in complete date order, starting with a letter from the summer before Annemarie's 7th year.

"I wanted you to have them so you could follow along with my notes." She grabbed her glasses off of her desk and put them on. "Okay, the first letter you have there. That was from the beginning of mom's summer before her 7th year. He seems to be vehemently apologizing for something that he did, but he doesn't go into much detail about it, only saying that he wanted a chance to explain himself and why things are the way they are.

"Look at the next letter. This was written a few days before they would have gotten on the train to Hogwarts. He requests a meeting with her before they leave, practically pleading with her to let him explain himself. He also mentions Lily Evans, saying that he wanted to explain what was going on with her and him as well. Lily Evans is Harry Potter's mom, correct?"

I nodded, reading the letter over. I couldn't even imagine Snape writing something like this. Phrases like, "I would do anything to change what happened" and "I'm begging you, even if you don't want to continue our friendship, to at least listen to what I have to say" jumped out at me. The emotion contained in them made this trip into his teenage mind even more fascinating.

"That's what I thought. Okay, now, next letter. This one was written a few days after they got back to school. He asks mom to meet him in the Astronomy Tower, 'like they used to do before everything happened'. Short letter, doesn't have much information in it.

"The letters get pretty basic here, with him writing to mom, talking about things from their classes, how much homework they had, et cetera. I assume that they corresponded with letters and notes during their classes, since most of the ones he wrote were rather short.

"Skip to around Christmas time." I shuffled through the papers until I reached the ones from December. "This is where it gets interesting. Apparently, mom had brought him home before, when they had met to have their 'discussion', and grandma didn't really approve of him. Actually, if I remember right, he wrote that 'she practically disowned me from the moment I stepped in the door.'" I nodded to signal she was right. "It seems as though my mom had invited him, as well as a girl named Stacie and your dad, over to her house for Christmas vacation. He spoke as if he was eager to go, but afraid of what her mother would say about it. The next letter," she signaled me to go to the next one, "shows that mom had said something along the lines of 'She can suck it' in her letter back. He accepts the invitation, and asks her what she wants for Christmas, and whether or not he should get presents for the rest of her family. I guess that word had traveled to Lily Evans that she was going to have him at her house for break, because the next letter is actually a note from one of their classes together." I went to the next one and noticed the different handwriting. Snape's was very loopy and elegant, while Annemarie's was more choppy and scribbly, much like my and Lorissa's handwriting.

"Mom started the conversation, saying that Lily had tried to talk to her again about him. She mentioned that she seemed very worried about her hanging around with him. They talked about it for a little bit. He told her to believe him when he said that 'wouldn't let anything happen to her', and that she was 'too precious to him' to ever consider causing her pain. This is where mom mentions his name." She leaned over me and pointed to his name. "Severus. Right there. After I found his name, I went through a bunch of books and collections from the Daily Prophet and Hogwarts, looking to see if I could find any information on him…but, I'll get to that later." She sat back down where she was and continued.

"The letters stop, since they were together at grandma's house. They pick back up in January, with him saying that 'Grace and Ben seemed to really fancy each other by the end of the holiday.'" She saw my smile, and smiled as well. "I thought you would like that. That's when they must have met. Anyways, he rambles on about how he enjoyed the stay, and enjoyed being with her family and her closest friends. He also mentions The Beatles, which I found surprising. He said that before he came back to Hogwarts, he went out and purchased 'Abbey Road' for mom, after he discovered that her all-time favorite song was 'Something', and she didn't own anything with the song on it. He said that he would have given her his copy, but his copy was so scratched, and the album cover itself was so worn out, that he wanted her to have a good copy."

I felt my eyes get a little wider. My mind drifted back to the time when Su and I had found Snape in the Astronomy Tower, plastered, playing 'Something'. That tidbit of information made the event make sense. That was Annemarie's favorite song, and he was listening to it to remind him of her.

"As the letters go on, the language becomes much more flowery and sweet. It was as if he was trying to write 'I love you' in code, as if he was trying to tell mom how he felt without the risk of rejection. He also started signing his letters with 'Yours', furthering what I said just a little bit ago about the whole code thing. This goes on for a while, with nothing too exciting happening…until about the end of March." I flipped to March, feeling like my brain was going to explode from all of this new information, but hooked nonetheless.

"Once again, he asked her to meet him in the Astronomy Tower, but, this time, it was going to be late at night. He also told her to bring a jacket or blanket, since it was March, and it was cold. He signs it 'always yours', and actually puts 'Severus' down, instead of the curly S. The letter after it is filled with mushiness that I've only ever read in the Twilight books. I almost stated crying from the raw emotion he wrote in that letter. It's signed with 'love you, always and forever', and his name.

"Every letter after is filled with this flowery mushiness. Suddenly, near the end of April, he starts talking about where they were going to go after graduation. He lists off several places where he says 'no one, not even Him, would think to look', including different places in France and America. He mentions that they would be safe wherever they went – he would make sure of that. He keeps telling her that everything would be all right, as if she was in danger somehow." She paused, trying to keep the fact that she wanted to cry back. "It's simply signed with 'I love you'.

"They discuss America for a while, but then he yields to her apparent decision that they should be 'as far away from her family as possible'. They settled on looking for somewhere outside of Versailles, so that they could be alone, but close to some businesses and shops when they needed anything. The letters end in the middle of July after their graduation, when he told her that he was going to pick her up on the 14th at 2:00 in the morning, and that they would then leave for Versailles." She took a breath, trying to choke back the tears again.

"Wow, honey…that is pretty intense."

She nodded, wiping a tear that had escaped off her cheek. "Do you want to know how I found out exactly who he was?"

I nodded, still looking at the last letter, wondering what had happened from the time that they were 17 to after Lorissa was born, when Annemarie went missing, and, apparently, Snape took her to Michelle to have her take care of her.

"After I finished reading the letters, I trekked over to the library to look up anyone with the name of 'Severus' who was alive back in the late 70s and early 80s, and who attended Hogwarts at that time. I figured it would be an easy search, since I had never heard his name before. It wasn't exactly easy, but I did find what I was looking for." She paged through her notes before coming on the page she wanted.

"I scoured the library for records of students from the other wizarding schools. Oddly enough, the only ones I found were from Hogwarts. I grabbed the one that was their graduating year and started looking through it. I found an index in the back, and, upon finding his first name, discovered that his last name was Snape." She paused, her face darkening slightly. "I had heard that name come up in conversations before, especially when it was grandma and Aunt Sarah talking, and they didn't think I could hear them. I figured that it was just because he was my dad, and they didn't want me to know about what happened to him.

"I turned to each page, and eventually found the graduation photo that had been taken of all of them. His picture was…humorous, at best. He was looking over at a person beside him, swatting the hand that was trying to poke him in the ear away from him. He looked incredibly pissed, but after several swats, a smirk started to show up on his face. Now that I had a face, I decided to see if I could get any information on him.

"There wasn't much, honestly; a small article about how he had been reported missing by his mother, an article about his appointment to Potions Master at Hogwarts, mentions of him in articles written about Harry, things like that. And then…I found it."

I looked at her questioningly. She pulled out a couple sheets of paper with yellow highlighter on it. The first highlighted line, about a third down the page, said 'In a shocking twist of events, Professor Snape revealed himself as a Death Eater, killing Dumbledore at the top of the Astronomy Tower.' The lines she highlighted after that were basic mentions of his history; his brilliance in Potions, his interest in the Dark Arts, and the betrayal that the faculty, staff, and students at Hogwarts were feeling after his true allegiance had been shown.

I looked up at her with true sympathy in my eyes. She wiped more tears off of her cheeks, trying not to completely break. "I can see now why no one wanted to tell me about him. He's a Death Eater. They didn't want me to know what a…a…._monster_ he is." She sniffed. "I'm wondering if he had something to do with mom going missing." She paused, her face getting all screwed up. "I wonder if he killed her." She broke into harsh, ragged sobs.

I hugged her close to me, my mind still reeling from all the information I had received. When other people cry, I start to cry as well, so I joined her. We cried in each other's arms for quite some time. When we both started to show signs of calming down, I broke the hug and took her face in my hands.

"What are you going to do?" I asked her, speaking in almost a whisper.

"I don't know."

I pulled her in a hug again, and she resumed crying, though not as hard as before.

"Krys…" she tugged on my shirt a little bit when she spoke, "I'm really scared."

I held her closer to me. "I know, baby. I know."

We sat in silence for what seemed like forever, with her crying into my shoulder.

~*~

"Miss Carter, do you realize how serious this is?" Headmistress Sarto said, peering at Lorissa and I through her thick, round glasses. We stayed up the entire night, Lorissa trying to figure out what to do to keep herself and those around her safe, since she didn't know if he was going to come back and try to take her. I, on the other hand, tried to think of some way to make Lorissa feel less scared about the whole situation. Truthfully, I was worried for her, and wondered as well if Snape would try anything – but I didn't let her know that. We eventually decided that we would go and talk to Sarto before our first classes in the morning, just so we could get it out of the way, and so Lorissa could have some piece of mind.

"To a degree, ma'am, yes. I felt like it would be good for you to be aware of what I've discovered." She shifted uncomfortably in her chair. I squeezed her hand, trying to let her know that I was there for her. "I wasn't sure what would be the best thing for me to do in this situation. I feel as though as long as I'm here, I'm putting people in danger."

"Hmm…" Sarto looked over Lorissa's notes, and the printed article about Dumbledore's death. "This is a very serious situation." She took her huge glasses off, rubbed her eyes, and leaned forward, looking straight at Lorissa. "As you well know by now, since you evidently did your research, your father is currently the Headmaster at Hogwarts. I have actually had communication with him, as have several of the other Headmasters from the other wizarding schools. The things he said to me…" She closed her eyes and shook her head. "I won't go into that. What I'm getting at is that, unfortunately, these are dangerous times, not only for you, but also for all of us. Have you notified your grandmother about your findings?"

Lorissa looked down at her feet. "No, ma'am, I have not."

Sarto sighed. "You might want to, my dear, so the two of you can discuss the actions that you will need to take to ensure your safety. As much as the staff here at Ashberry works to keep all of the students here safe, what we are dealing with, in this case, is far from simple. It would be very difficult for us to effectively protect you from the various things that he could do to you, even from as far away as he is."

"So…are you saying that I should leave the school?"

I looked over at Lorissa in shock, a "No!" escaping my mouth. I turned to Sarto. "Ma'am, please. There has to be something that could be done to keep Lorissa here. Her schooling shouldn't be interrupted because of this."

"Miss Koromashi…I'm afraid that Lorissa's idea is what I was, myself, thinking. I am worried about the student body as a whole, but I am more concerned right now with her well-being and safety. I believe that it would be in her best interest to go into hiding somewhere, away from her home and the school, so that he won't be able to find her and, possibly, harm her." Sarto looked directly at Lorissa, the sadness in her heart pouring out from every inch of her. "I'm sorry, Lorissa."

"I understand, ma'am." Lorissa looked up at Sarto, giving the best smile she could, given the circumstances. "I will get in touch with my grandmother, and we'll work it out."

Sarto nodded, and we both took that as our cue to leave. As soon as we walked out of the room, Lorissa took out her cell phone and dialed her grandmother.

I heard it ring on the other end faintly four times, and then the answering machine kicked on. "Hi, Grandma. It's me. I wanted you to know that I know. I know everything. I know who he is. I just spoke with Sarto about it, and I'm leaving the school. I'll talk to you more about it when you get me. Love you. Bye." She shut her phone and kept walking.

"Lorissa…" She stopped and turned around to look at me. Once again, tears were welling up in her eyes. "Do you want to talk about this or anything?"

She stared at me for a little bit, and then shook her head. "No. I need to start packing. Who knows when grandma will come get me." She half-smiled. "Go on to class, cuz. I'll be all right."

With that, she turned on her heels and walked towards her dorm hallway. I stood there, not knowing whether to cry or scream about the whole situation.

~*~

I was walking to my Arithmancy class when, all of the sudden, someone grabbed my arm and pulled me out of the hallway and into a corner.

"What the fuck?" I said rather loudly. Looking up, I saw that it was Tim, with a serious, concerned look on his face. "Oh, it's you. I thought someone was going to rape me."

"Why is Lorissa in her room, packing?"

I paused, wondering how I could answer this question. He noticed my hesitation. "Something happened yesterday, didn't it? Something big?"

I looked down at my feet, trying not to cry. I nodded slowly.

He tipped my chin up so he could look into my eyes. "You don't have to tell me. I understand. Just answer one thing for me – is Lorissa leaving for good?"

"She's leaving until all of…everything blows over."

He nodded with understanding, and then sighed, running a hand through his hair. "Is she going to be okay?"

I looked him straight in the eyes, tears welling up in my own eyes as I spoke. "I sure as hell hope so."

~*~

I ran down the 5th year hallway after I finished talking to Tim, hoping that I wasn't too late. I nearly yanked the doorknob off of Lorissa's door when I opened it. Stumbling in, I saw Lorissa slowly putting her clothes in her suitcase, while Michelle was sitting on her bed, looking at the letters she had never known about.

They looked up simultaneously at me. "Hello, Krystel," Michelle said flatly, turning her attention back to the letters. That surprised me; normally, Michelle was happy to see me. I caught Lorissa's eye, and she shook her head no, signaling me not to ask any questions about what was up her grandmother's ass.

I didn't even have to ask, because, not even seconds later, Michelle started to talk.

"This is all ridiculous. All of this. Every last bit of it." She slammed the letters down on the bed (I saw Lorissa flinch when she did this). "My daughter is gone, and you're in danger, all because of him." She shook her head, resting her forehead in her hand. "I told her that he wasn't good. I told her. But she didn't listen…" She turned to Lorissa, looking at her with sad eyes. "I'm sorry, honey. I tried to tell her. I did."

Lorissa shook her head, obviously not wanting to hear anything about her dad at that moment. She finished putting all of her things in her suitcase. Zipping it up, she pulled it off the bed, extending the handle so she could pull it through the hallway easily. Michelle took this as a sign to start loading up, so she grabbed a couple bags and Lorissa's pillows.

"Is there anything I can do for you, honey?" I asked when Michelle was out of earshot, hoping that I could do something – anything – to help my cousin out.

She walked over to her bed and grabbed the letters and her notes. She then shoved them into my hands. "Hold on to these. I don't want grandma or anyone else getting to them." I started to straighten them out in my hands, trying not to bend or alter their shape in any way.

"Also…"

"Yes, sweetie?"

"…I need a hug." She jumped into my arms, clinging to me tightly. I returned the favor, whispering things like "It's going to be okay" and "I love you" in her ear. She abruptly ended the hug, mumbling, "I have to go now", and wheeling her suitcase out of the room. I heard her sniff a few times and saw her hand go up to her cheeks as she walked down the main hallway and exited the building.

For the first time since I was in the dungeons at Hogwarts, I was truly scared; not only for Lorissa, but also for everyone.

This was getting serious, and I wasn't sure how to handle it.

**A/N: Wow. Just wow. Lots of tears, lots of tears…there were several parts in there where _I _thought I was going to burst out crying. Heavy, heavy stuff. I'm stopping it here because I need to mentally recuperate…**

**Read and review! It's because of all of you that I write! ^_^**


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N: Goodness! I'm addicted to writing this story. Two chapters in one night…wow. That was truly impressive. Hopefully, after I finish this one, my inspiration and drive will be converted to one of my other stories. Heh. Maybe. We'll just see about that.**

**I also have an NCIS fic brewing in my head (it's my new favorite show, what can I say), and a Digimon fic that I've been rewriting and rewriting since I was in 6th grade.**

**I'm a freshman in college now.**

**I digress…I hope you enjoy this chapter!**

**Ch. 14**

I called my dad shortly after Lorissa left, telling him everything that had transpired in the recent days. He didn't have much to say on the topic; only that he was sorry, that he wished he could protect Lorissa, and that he wished he would have told me what was going on sooner. Our conversation didn't even last ten minutes; he said he had to go and take care of grandma.

"Fine," I said with a scathing tone, and I shut the phone. I needed to talk to someone who would understand fully what was going on, and he couldn't even do that for me. Besides, my grandmother was only in her mid-60s, and was fit as a fiddle. I was sure that he just ended the conversation to end the conversation.

After convincing Tim that I wouldn't throw the lyrics packet at him again (apparently, I gave him a paper cut on his nose), he gave me it back, and we resumed our practices, trying to figure out what song or songs we could sing at the talent show…since no one seemed willing to reunite Winnie and the Poohs but Tim (and myself, but I didn't tell him that…heh). And, after listening to 'Scarborough Fair' a few times over while staring at the lyrics on my computer, and watching The Graduate three times to get the emotional feeling I needed to sing the song, I agreed to practice it with Tim.

By our Christmas break, we had picked the three songs we wanted to play: "Hallelujah" by Leonard Cohen, "Scarborough Fair/Canticle" by Simon and Garfunkel, and an acoustic version of "Over The Rainbow" by Judy Garland. Lorissa would never admit it to anyone that "Over The Rainbow" was her favorite song - at least, to anyone but me. I wanted to sing it for her. Even though she was, most likely, not going to be present at the talent show ('Unless,' I thought to myself, 'the war ends and the danger leaves…'), I still had a feeling that she would know that it was for her. All of it was for her.

Tim and I filled out the little form to enter in to the talent show the day before we left for break. We agreed to have multiple practice sessions over the break, since the talent show was going to be in early February, and we were quite the perfectionists when it came to music, and performing music. Dad came and picked me up from school when we were finished with our classes.

"Hi, dad," I said, after I threw my suitcase and various other bags in the back seat of his car. "How are you?"

"All right, I guess. You?"

"I'm all right."

That was the only conversation we had during the course of the 45-minute drive back to grandma's house. I shifted uncomfortably many timed during that ride, but dad didn't notice. He kept on driving, eyes glued to the road, as if he was just waiting for something – or someone – to pop out and attack us.

He slammed the car door when he got out of the car, and he somewhat sprinted towards the house, not even offering to help me carry in my things. Before I could open the back door, however, he yelled a "Come on!" to me from the doorstep. I obeyed, and ran into the house.

I watched my dad disappear from sight, muttering something about how 'this was the worst idea he had ever heard of'. I walked into the living room and was about to turn into the dining room when I saw her.

I stopped dead in my tracks, dropping my purse on the ground. I heard a few things crackle as it rolled over on its side, but I didn't care.

She looked at me with eyes that I had not seen in a year. She stared at me. I stared back at her with the same color of eyes.

Grandma then walked into the room, carrying two glasses of water. She set one down in front of the woman, and then handed one to me. "Hello, darling. I hope school has been going well for you."

"Grandma…," I started, still holding eye contact with the woman in front of me, "why is mom here?"

~*~

I sat across the table from my mother, looking deep into her eyes, trying to analyze her face. Grandma had told me that she had been released from the hospital earlier that week, after showing steady and progressive treatment since she had been admitted. With our old house already sold off and bought, she had nowhere else to go but her mother's house, which, unbeknownst to her until I walked in the door that afternoon, was also being inhabited by my father and I.

Even though her face was back to normal, and her eyes were glistening again, I could tell that she wasn't the same. Her time in Cleveland had changed her. Yeah, I expected her to be different, but she gave off vibes of apathy…and the last thing my mother had ever been was apathetic.

"So, how are you?" I asked, trying to think of things to say. It seemed as though she had been gone a lot longer than the measly year that it really was. 365 days was not a long enough time for me to feel as distant as I did from the woman in front of me.

"I'm doing all right, Krystel," she started, her gaze never leaving mine. "The doctors said that since I had been making excellent progress from the start, I should be able to leave the hospital and slowly make my way back into society. Mom came to pick me up, but I didn't expect to find you or your father here." She paused, as if waiting for a reaction.

I didn't give her one.

"Many things have happened since I've been away, haven't they? You seem different…more grown up."

I nodded. "Yes, a lot of things have happened. It seems as though the past year has been one thing right after another for me."

She sighed. "So I've heard. Did you enjoy Hogwarts?"

"Yeah. It was a good place to be."

Mom blinked. "Even with everything that happened?"

"Yes."

"I see. Well, that comes as no surprise to me, since you have always been very strong when it comes to terrible situations. I had imagined, though, that living with your father might have been a little…awkward?"

I half-smiled. "I wasn't there for that long, mom – I lived more at Hogwarts than I did with him."

She closed her eyes, smiling to herself. "Yes, that is true. I hadn't thought about that." She opened them after hearing dad running into something and yelling 'Shit!'

"Ben, that table hasn't moved in 20 years! You should know that it's there!" Mom shook her head, her smile turning into a smirk. "You'd think he'd remember."

I felt the icy glare of my father's gaze on the back of my neck for a second, and then it disappeared. He must have decided to sulk off somewhere else to eavesdrop (I inherited it from him, what can I say?).

"How-" I wasn't even sure what to say. "How have you been, mom?"

Mom looked out the window by the kitchen table. "I've been better, dear. Just a lot of things, you know? My coping skills were not good... It's something I need to work on. I wish I would have gone sooner, before everything happened." She looked back at me, tears rimming her eyes. "I wish I hadn't put you through everything that I did. It wasn't fair to you. I should have taken care of myself…" She ran a hand through her auburn-red hair. As if we were looking at each other through a mirror, I did the same.

We held an awkward silence for what seemed like eternity. In the distance, I could hear my father pretend-rustling through one of the million closets in the house, trying to sound inconspicuous. I wanted to yell 'I know you're there, dad!' out to him, but I held back, not wanting to make this whole situation more awkward than it already was.

"Krystel…"I looked back up at mom. She was softly crying, trying not to look me square in the eye. "I'm…I'm sorry…"

I instantly started crying. I got up, ran over to the other side of the table, and grabbed my mom in a massive hug. We held each other for quite some time, crying, letting all of our emotions – both on the surface and suppressed – out, so we could start over with a clean slate.

~*~

…Of course, it wasn't a completely clean slate. Mom and I had many heart-to-hearts about what all had happened when I was growing up; me picking up after her, finding her drunk sometimes, her boyfriends, etc. She apologized numerous times, and said that she would do anything to make it up to me. Apologies are great, and it did help…but some things take quite a bit of time to heal, and this was one of them.

She understood that, though, so we were able to be comfortable around each other for the rest of the break.

My parents, considering that they hadn't been around each other for long periods of time since I was two years old, had a little bit of a problem adjusting to having the other one around. Fights would ensue about the smallest of things – a hair on the sink, a crumb here, a sock that was accidentally left there, just silly things. After Christmas, though, I could see that they were starting to grow accustomed to the other one being there. Their divorce was not a bitter one, and they had planned to remain at least acquaintances after it was final, so, after a while, they slipped back into their friendly stage, and began talking with each other and laughing.

I have to say, it was a different sight for me to see. There had only been a handful of instances that I saw my parents in reach of each other, and, every time, they were very awkward and quiet when the other was around. Seeing them enjoying themselves, reminiscing about old times and laughing, was a nice change of pace.

Christmas came and went, as did New Year's, and, before any of us knew it, it was time to go back to school.

…And that was the most clichéd sentence I have ever seen. Sorry, everyone.

I really was not looking forward to going back to school. First off, I didn't want to walk through the halls without seeing Lorissa – and the fact that I couldn't call her, text her, or reach her in ANY way to tell her how much I missed her didn't really help. Secondly…it made me realize that it had been over half a year since I had been at Hogwarts. It had been half a year since I saw Su, Lavender, Parvati, Seamus…

'Harry…' my mind drifted to him the night I got back, while I was trying to fall asleep. 'Of course, he would pop in my head when I'm trying to sleep.' I turned my head and looked out the window by my head. It was snowing. I wondered if it was snowing in England…or…wherever he was. I wondered if he was warm. I wondered if he was safe.

…I wondered if he was thinking about me…

As I drifted off into sleep, I could have sworn I heard him whisper my name.

~*~

_Dude…you don't look so good. You okay?_

_- Emily_

I was fighting the urge to conk out on my desk when the note appeared on top of the notebook I was writing my Transfiguration notes in. Mr. Leonard, the oldest human being to walk the Earth, was droning on about giraffes he saw on a safari he went on (the safari was 30 years ago…and he STILL talks about it). All around me, people were snoozing on their desks. The guy who was sitting next to me was drooling a little.

_I'm ok…I guess. I just had a weird Edward/Bella moment last night._

She read the note, looked at Mr. Leonard, and then looked at me confused. I motioned for her to give me the piece of paper back so I could explain.

_I know, sounds really weird…but I did. You know how in New Moon, Bella hears Edward's voice in her head? Well, before I fell asleep, I could have sworn I heard Harry's voice whisper my name. It was the weirdest thing. It sounded like he was RIGHT THERE, too._

_That's weird, dude. Were you freaking out?_

_Well…I thought about him before I went to sleep. But it wasn't just him – I was thinking about everyone at Hogwarts._

Of course…at the time I heard his voice, I was only thinking of him, so that was a total lie. But, I digress.

_Did you sleep last night? It doesn't look like you did._

_I slept pretty well last night. I probably just look like shit because I've been under some stress lately._

Emily made a pouty face at me, and traced a finger down her cheek, imitating a tear. Normally, I would consider this move sarcastic, but I could tell she was being sincere about it.

_Star Wars marathon after class. Ewan McGregor with a mullet. Sound good?_

I smiled and nodded. "Heck yes," I whispered. "Anything with Ewan in it sounds good."

~*~

'That's a lot of Mountain Dew," I said as I walked into the 7th year lounge. Emily, Lema, Gina, DiJonay, and Tim were already in the room when I came in, sprawled out on pillows, couches, and such. There were popcorn bowls scattered about, and 10 2-liters of the green, sugary, uber-caffeinated goodness.

"That's because we're going to play the Star Wars drinking game!" Emily said as she hopped over to me and handed me a sheet of paper, containing all the rules.

"There's one for the prequels?" I sat down next to Tim on one of the fluffy couches.

"Of course there is!" Tim said, filling a huge plastic cup nearly to the top with Dew. "There's a drinking game for everything. We just can't drink what you're supposed to." He handed me the cup. "This was the next best thing."

"Liquid crack?"

Tim laughed. "That's right! Lema, let's get this party started!"

Lema grudgingly got up from her sea of pillows, grabbed the remote, and pushed play.

I remember downing two cups during the Phantom Menace, and then another one about halfway through Attack of the Clones…but my memory gets fuzzy at that point. The clearest memory that I have after Attack of the Clones finished is Gina getting up and pillow fighting with DiJonay, who said it was a reenactment of the light saber fight between Yoda and Dooku.

I woke up the next morning crashed out on the couch, my head practically in Tim's lap. Everyone else was sprawled out on the floor. There was a mix of feathers and popcorn strewn everywhere, and about 6 of the 2-liters lay empty on the floor next to Gina's head.

I ended up with a handful of feathers after running my hand through my hair.

"Dude…what happened?" Tim said, barely opening his eyes.

"I don't know," I looked around, trying to remember what all had happened.

"I guess last night was what it's like to be wasted."

I nodded in agreement, stretching, and then looking at my cell phone for the time.

"Dude, it's only 6 in the morning." We looked at each other, nodded, and quietly crept out of the room.

"It was their idea, right?" Tim whispered to me as we were tiptoeing through the halls. "They can clean it up."

"They're going to be so pissed."

"They can deal." He opened up his door, jerking his head in, telling me I could come in. I walked in, plopping down on his bed before he could say anything.

"Aww…your bed is so soft," I said, rolling back and forth on it. "I forgot how soft your bed is."

"Scoot over," he said, almost pushing me off the bed. I giggled, hitting him with a pillow.

"Hey, that was totally uncalled for, being you're in my bed and all…"

"Ooo, racy," I started, fluttering my eyelashes at him in response. "Mr. Davidson, you're trying to seduce me."

Tim put his hand over my face, pushing it to the left. I giggled again.

"Go to sleep. You're slap-happy."

"Your mom is slap-happy."

"See?" He pulled his sheets over my head. "Shh. Go to sleep."

"Night, Timmy," I said, rolling over on my stomach and quickly falling asleep.

~*~

When I walked into my room later that afternoon, I was met by the glares of two very pissed-off young women.

"Where did you and Tim go last night?" Emily asked, her brown eyes boring into me. I looked over at Lema, trying to find some sympathy, but she just glared even more with her dark brown eyes.

"Uhh…" I felt myself being backed into a corner. Before I knew it, both girls were two inches away from my face. "Tim and I…we…uhh…went back to his room and…crashed?"

"And left us to be yelled at by Sarto, and to have to clean up everything?" Lema's eyes were shooting fire into my face. I felt like I was going to have two symmetrical holes in my cheeks.

"…Sorry?"

Emily threw a pillow at me, obviously trying to hide the smile that was creeping up on her lips. "You better be sorry. We had to physically PLUCK out the kernels that had snuck down in the carpet from your big feet crushing them in."

"Hey! My feet aren't that big!" To be honest, I wore a size ten shoe, but that was beside the point.

"Yeah, they are."

I grabbed the pillow and threw it at Lema for that comment. She ducked, causing her to not be able to hold in her laughter anymore. Lema's laugh was one of those laughs that made the world a better place. It's very infectious.

We all started cracking up, like the laughter that always ended a Power Rangers episode. It was lame, pathetic, and wonderful, all at the same time.

**A/N: Oooo, and the plot thickens!!!**

**…Not really, though. The next couple of chapters will be the crazy, cool, good ones, where a whole bunch of things will all tie together, and all will be right in my HP universe. ^_^**

**Also, I apologize for the wait – school's back in session, and I've been busy doing school stuff.**

**Love all of you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!**


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N: Haha! 15 chapters! That's amazing…I never thought I'd get this far with ANY of my stories, let alone this one! I'm pretty stoked…so, stuff's going to happen in this chapter. I'm not going to lie, it'll be crazy. But, I assure you, it will be fun!**

**Have fun reading, and thanks for sticking with me!**

**Ch. 15**

As the months progressed, our professors began talking more and more about what was going on 'across the pond' in Europe. People began asking me questions about my time over there, like 'Did you ever see You-Know-Who?' 'Did you see anyone die?' and, my favorite, 'Did they really not have electricity?' Even little first years, trying to act cool, would come up and ask me things about what I had experienced. It was rather different for me, since people I didn't know never usually came up to me and asked me about my life. Still, it was nice to know that people were interested, and that they really were concerned about what was going on.

Whenever we had free time, Tim and I were practicing and perfecting our songs for the talent show. We never really did practice over break, so we were rather rusty when we came back to school. Plus, I came down with a nasty cold that took my voice away in the first week of February, so we lost some time there.

But, by the time May rolled around, we had it down to a science. Tim even started figuring out some fancy variations on the guitar parts that already existed for the songs, and I was teaching myself to harmonize (it didn't really work– but I at least tried). We performed those three songs so much I started to get sick of them, which is never a good thing, considering they were all favorites of mine.

The show was going to be on the third Friday of May at 6:00 in our auditorium. All sorts of people were signed up, from first years lip-synching to Hannah Montana, to other singer and guitar playing pairs, to a couple of skits, to a stand-up comedian.

The week before the show, at about midnight, Tim and I were in one of the music performance rooms playing "Hallelujah", when someone started knocking loudly and urgently at the huge oak door.

Tim stopped mid strum, and my voice squeaked out a weird high note. We looked at each other. Nobody ever came down to the music area after 10:00 at night. Even then, there were very few people who even set foot in the music department at Ashberry. Worry both covered our faces. I walked over and opened the door.

"Emily!" Tim said, putting his guitar on the ground and running over to his sister, embracing her in a huge hug. Her hair was messed up, her clothes didn't match, and she was crying hysterically. Something was definitely up.

"What's wrong, honey?" I started rubbing Emily's back.

"Didn't you hear the announcement?"

We both shook our heads no.

"The school's on lockdown. Shit's starting to happen. Everyone has been ordered to go down to the lower basement. They said to only take the things out of the rooms that mean the most to you. I started to freak out when I didn't see either of you in your rooms, so I went running through the school, trying to find you. We need to go."

She broke out of Tim's arms and started running towards the stairs to the basement.

"Wait, Em!" I yelled, catching up to her. Tim went back in the room, grabbed his guitar, and caught up as well. "What's going on? What's happening?"

Her face was as stern as I had ever seen it. I actually gasped from the shock of her being able to look as grave and serious as she did right then. "The battle. It's happening right now. At Hogwarts."

Tears started welling up in my eyes. I knew exactly who was involved in that fight.

The three of us ran down to the basement, flinging open the doors and finding the rest of our group. It was almost like déjà-vu; being in the basement of a school with the group of people that I cared about the most while others were risking their lives for my safety. This time, though, people were actually speaking in the basement.

…Though, they weren't physically speaking. One of the professors had pulled out an ancient looking radio set and had tapped into the Wizarding radio frequencies, picking up a signal of someone who was actually reporting what was going on.

Crazy, I know. I couldn't even imagine being in that situation. Listening closely to the background noises, it almost seemed like they were broadcasting _from the scene._ I wasn't entirely sure until I heard the wails.

Shivers ran down my spine when they began. It was unlike anything I had ever heard before – it was as if the souls of everyone on the Hogwarts grounds had just let loose. The sound was so loud I could barely make out what the announcer was saying.

_"…This can't be true…this couldn't have happened…I…I am sorry to report this, but…God…it appears that Harry Potter is…he's…dead…my God…"_

I felt my own wail escape from my lips. It echoed throughout the entire basement. Everyone in the room began to freak out about the news, but I couldn't hear them. I couldn't hear anything but my sobs and screams.

I couldn't believe it. There was no way it was true. Harry could not be dead. It felt as though a knife had been stuck in my chest. All of the air was knocked out of me. I fell to the floor on my hands and knees, barely able to hold myself up. I felt Tim's hands grab my shoulders, trying to pull me up, but, being as hysterical as I was, he didn't have much luck. I shooed everyone who came to try and help me away frantically. I didn't want to be touched by anyone at that moment.

The last thing I remember clearly was someone pulling me up with their hands under my armpits, and a small, sharp pain in my right side. After that, my eyes clouded, and my brain seemed to turn off.

~*~

When I was about 4 years old, I had to have a few root canals done after I fell head first from a slide and messed up my teeth. Since I was so young, the doctors couldn't give me as much anesthesia as they would have liked. This resulted in me waking up several times during the surgery and being able to feel the pain.

Luckily for me, I don't remember the pain of it all. I just remember looking up and seeing several heads above me, complete with surgical masks and gloves. I also remember looking up at the ceiling – those ceiling tiles are ingrained in my memory forever.

I had a flash back to this experience upon waking up in the hospital room at Ashberry after I freaked out. When I opened my eyes, I saw those same ceiling tiles – complete with the same designs and nasty, golden molding. The only thing that was different was that instead of seeing surgical masks, I saw our head nurse holding a very large needle right above my chest.

"What is that?" I asked, my eyes wide. I hated needles.

"Oh, you're awake!" Mrs. Shelton said nonchalantly, as if she didn't notice my eyes being wide open. "This was just going to wake you up." She put the needle over on her little cart and came back over to me.

"What was in that?"

"Adrenaline," she said flatly, pulling on her rubber gloves and making them snap. She started sticking those weird lighted things in my ears and in front of my eyes.

"Adrenaline?!"

"Yes. You have been asleep for a while now, but when your heart started acting weird-"

"My HEART started acting weird??" I was really confused; not only about why my heart was being weird, but why I was even in the ward in the first place. "How would you even know?! I don't have any machines hooked up to me!"

Mrs. Shelton just looked at me. I lay my head back down on my pillow. I always knew she was a quack. "Whatever. At least I woke up before you made me go nuts."

As she shuffled out, I could have sworn I heard her mutter, "doesn't take much" to herself.

I sighed and started to stretch when I felt something tug at my side. I rubbed my hand against it. It felt like something was taped there. Pulling up my shirt slightly, I discovered a small gauze sheet taped to my side.

There was a small red spot on it.

Blood.

Things rushed back in fragments. Everyone together. The radio. The announcer. Tears. Screams. Sharp pain. Blackness.

I felt water spring back up in my eyes, but none of it even threatened to spill onto my cheeks. I realized what had happened; I heard the news, I freaked out to the max, and they drugged me. I had no idea how long I had been out, and I was pretty sure I wouldn't know until someone came in and told me.

I sat up in the bed, scoping out my surroundings. The infirmary was completely empty, aside from Shelton dorking around. Normally, when I had been in that room, there would be the noise of students walking both through the halls and on the second level. There was none of that. I could have heard a pin drop.

"Where is everyone?" I spoke pretty loud.

Mrs. Shelton shuffled back over to me, giving me a strange look. "They're all outside. Where else would they be?"

"Why are they outside?"

"The celebration, of course."

"Celebration of what?"

"Of the victory."

I could feel my cheeks starting to get pink. She wasn't making anything easier. "Of WHAT victory, if you don't mind me asking?"

"My goodness, where have you been?"

I just stared back at her, trying to burn holes through her skin with my eyes. She nodded, saying "Oh, right," softly to herself.

"Voldemort's dead and gone. Everything is back to normal. I would be out there myself, but I had to take care of you." She shuffled off for a second. Before I could call her back over, she handed me an edition of the Ashberry Press. The headline had only two words; "It's Over", and a very large moving picture of everyone cheering in the basement of the school.

"Something's not adding up," I said, scanning through the paper. It mentioned nothing of Harry's death; in fact, the only mention of him at all was that he defeated Voldemort. That was it.

"Well, you know, you went crazy for no reason."

"What?" I looked up at Shelton over the edge of the paper.

"Yeah," she said, nonchalantly. "Everyone thought Harry Potter was dead when, in reality, he just got knocked unconscious for a while. He's fine."

"WHAT?!?!" I shouted, on my feet in less than a second. Waves of elation began to wash over me, but I couldn't trust Shelton. She had, just a few minutes ago, wanted to shoot me up with adrenaline for no reason.

"Yeah. It's all over the Daily Prophet." She shuffled out and returned with a copy of said newspaper, complete with a moving picture of the crowd lifting Harry up in victory. He didn't look too happy; in fact, he looked terrible. There were lines on his face that I hadn't seen before. His hair was long and shaggy, and he had huge bags under his eyes. I could tell that the only thing he wanted at that moment was for the crowd to leave him alone and let him sleep.

"Why didn't anyone tell me?" I said, not taking my eyes off of Harry, still in shock that he was actually alive.

"Well, everyone tried, but you kept screaming. I had to tranquilize you to get you to calm down."

I got up and put my shoes on. Shelton asked me where I was going, but I didn't tell her. I headed upstairs to my room to get my cell phone. I had to call my dad.

~*~

Ring. Ring. Ring.

"Come on…" I said to myself, lying on my stomach across my bed. In the middle of the fourth ring, Dad picked up.

"Hello?" He sounded like he was going through a wind tunnel.

"Hey, dad. Where are you?"

"In the car, driving. Are you okay? I've tried to call you about a dozen times."

I sighed. "I'll explain later. Where are you going?"

"Ashberry, actually." I could hear him turn up the volume on his stereo, but I couldn't make out the song. "Lorissa and I are heading down there to see you."

I stopped. "You have Lorissa with you?"

I could hear her yell "Hi Krystel!" in the background. I held the phone to my shoulder and let out a very loud, very girly squee. "Awesome. How close are you?"

"We've still got a while to go. Are you sure you're all right?"

I rolled my eyes. "I'll tell you when you get here."

I could almost see the gears in his brain moving, trying to figure out what was going on. "Okay. We'll be there soon."

"All right. Love you."

"Love you too, honey." Click.

I shoved my phone into my purse, changed clothes very quickly, and practically ran out of the room and down the stairs, dying to join in the festivities. My body felt as if it were floating from the sheer happiness I felt. I just wanted to get outside, be in the sun until I burned (which wouldn't take much), and dance.

Yeah, dance. I said it. I didn't care that I had just woken up about an hour before from a tranquilizer-induced sleep. If I passed out, I passed out. If I fell and broke something, so be it. I just needed to rejoice.

My eardrums were blasted with the sounds of the Macarena when I finally made my way out to the field. Picnic tables were scattered at every corner of the field, with all sorts of chips, punch, and assorted candies in bowls on them. There was a large stage set up, complete with a DJ booth and humongous speakers on either side. A large percentage of the students were on the outside of the area, playing Ultimate Frisbee, soccer, or some other sport. Some were in clusters on the picnic tables, talking and having a blast. Some had even set out towels over the grass to catch some rays.

And then, there were the ones in the center – the dance floor, if you will. Rows and rows of students were in nearly perfect lines, doing the Macarena. I stood back and watched, a huge smile on my face. I hadn't seen anything like that since the mid 90s, when the Macarena was everywhere. The line clapped and turned to face my direction.

Tim was the first one to notice me. He grabbed everyone else out of line and made a beeline over to me, where I was glomped like none other. Tim grabbed my hand and dragged me into the Macarena line, where we all immediately got back in the groove of the dance.

By the time the song was over, I was starting to glisten (women don't sweat – we _glisten_), and the others in my group were as well. We all made a beeline to the punch bowl that was at an open picnic table.

The DJ started playing "Mary Jane's Last Dance" by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers as we all guzzled down the punch. Tim put his arm around me, pulling me as close to him as he possibly could.

"You know, right?" Emily asked, a glint of worry in her eye.

I nodded, sipping more punch.

"Good," DiJonay piped in, fake wiping her brow. "I was all afraid that you didn't know."

"If I wouldn't have known, I wouldn't be this peppy." I smiled a huge smile at everyone.

"Close your mouth." Tim said, giving me a stern look.

"Why?"

"Your teeth are red."

I laughed. "So are yours!"

His eyes got wide. "No, they're not! Mirror!!!" Lema handed him her mirror, and he quickly checked. "Damnit!!" We all started laughing as he ran his fingers across his teeth, trying to get the color off.

"Just means you need to brush your teeth better," Emily said, punching Tim on the shoulder. He stuck his very red tongue out at her.

"How long is this celebration going on?" I asked, ladling out more punch for Lema, and then for myself.

"All night," Gina said, scrunching her curls a bit. "It doesn't officially end until 2 tomorrow morning."

"Sweet," I said, grinning from ear to ear. "That means Lorissa can join in on it."

Lema nearly spit out her punch. "Lorissa's coming back?"

I nodded furiously. "Dad's bringing her right now."

There was a collective 'yay', but that was interrupted by the opening bars of "Single Ladies" by Beyoncé. We all got up and ran out, with DiJonay screaming, "That's my jam! That's my jam!"

~*~

When Lorissa arrived, it seemed as though everyone had to see her. She later told me that people she didn't even know were coming up to her, telling her that they missed her, and that they hoped everything went well.

I hugged her fiercely, kind of hesitant to let her go. I didn't want anyone else to be around my cousin until I got my fill of her. Of course, that backfired, but, as she was being whisked away by her other friends, she yelled to me that she would talk to me later on in the evening.

"Hi honey," Dad said as I ran over and flung my arms around him. We hugged for what seemed like eternity, until he broke it off and said, "Let's go talk somewhere."

"I know just the place," I replied, tugging his hand towards my secret place like a 5 year old. I made sure no one was looking before I opened the door and shuffled him in.

"Wow, this is kind of cool," he said, looking around as I sat down on one of my pillows. I motioned for him to sit down on the one next to me, to which he took up the offer.

He looked at me, almost as if he was trying to read my mind. "What?" I asked.

"Why didn't you answer your phone?"

"I uh…" I started chewing my tongue. "I was in the…uh…infirmary."

"Oh," was all he said. We sat there in silence.

"Aren't you going to ask why I was in there?"

He shook his head. "No, I know."

Silence again.

"How much do you know?"

I looked over at him, running a hand through my hair. "What do you mean?"

"About everything. Has anyone in the school told you what happened?"

"Well, I know the basics of it all-"

"No," he said, looking at his shoes for a minute, "in relation to Lorissa."

I stared at him. "No…what are you talking about?"

He looked me square in the eye. "Michelle and Lorissa hid in a little village in France while…well…everything was happening. While they were there, they came across someone else who had been hiding."

"Who?"

"Well, if you let me finish, I'll tell you."

"Sorry." I looked down at my shoes.

"Thank you. It was total happenstance, I guess, that they ran into each other. They were sight seeing in Versailles when they spotted her in the Hall Of Mirrors. Michelle wasn't sure, but, you know her, she walked right over to this woman and tapped her on the shoulder. The woman turned around and stared at Michelle with huge eyes." He tipped my chin up so he could look in my eyes. "It was your aunt, honey. Annemarie."

"Holy shit. Sorry," I said, apologizing for my cursing. "Are you serious?"

Dad nodded. "Yeah. Michelle said they stood there in shock for about thirty seconds. The three of them left almost immediately after they snapped out of their shock, going to a little café by the palace, and went and talked."

"Oh my God," I said, dumbstruck. It seemed like life wouldn't stop throwing curveballs in my direction. What's the probability that that would happen? Not big, let me tell you, especially after Annemarie had been missing for nearly 15 years.

"Where is she now?"

"At the house," dad replied, playing with the tassels on one of the nearby pillows. "I brought Lorissa here so she could see everyone, but we're probably going to head back either late tonight or tomorrow."

"I say tomorrow, just because I want to talk to her about all of this."

Dad nodded. "Understandable."

A thought flickered through my brain. "What about Snape?"

Dad froze. "What?"

"What about Snape? What happened to him?"

He sighed. "Well, it turns out that he was a double agent for Dumbledore after all."

My eyes got wide. "What? What are you talking about?"

"Harry Potter saw it all. He said that Severus had been working for Dumbledore since Voldemort killed Harry's parents, because he was in love with Harry's mother. Dumbledore asked Severus to kill him. Dumbledore's trust in him was completely valid."

"Oh…" My thoughts trailed off, but, after remembering Annemarie was okay, I couldn't help but ask. "Where is he now?"

Dad hesitated, but then replied in almost a whisper, "Voldemort killed him."

Silence consumed the room for what seemed like ages before I also whispered. "Does Annemarie know?"

Dad shook his head. "No."

A knock on the door caused both of us to jump. I got up, thoroughly confused, since no one, to my knowledge, knew that this room existed.

"Hey you," Tim said, leaning up against the door way, "I gotta talk to you about something."

"How did you know I'd be here?" Dad stood up and took his place behind me.

"Oh, hello Mr. Koromashi," he said, flashing his now while teeth in my dad's direction, before turning back to me. "Are you kidding me? Everyone knows where this place is. Come on, I need to talk to you about something."

"Now's not a good time, Tim –"

He playfully yanked me out of the doorway and started walking down the hall, holding my wrist with an iron grip. "Now, Krys, what would you think about a Winnie and the Poohs reunion in the next few days?"

I made the motion to my dad of 'call me' before I responded with, "Uhh…okay…"

"Good, because we're going to be playing the last day of school, and we have lots of work to do."

~*~

"Holy crap, that was way too intense," Emily practically yelled, collapsing on her bed. Lema practically fell on the floor from exhaustion. I followed suit. We had just spent 5 hours picking, learning, and rehearsing songs for our apparent reunion, along with figuring which songs we all remembered from our last concert. Didn't turn out to be many. "Tim's going down for that. Seriously. Once school is done, I'm wringing his neck."

"Shh," Lema said, cuddling up to a random blanket by her bed, "be quiet. I'm sleepy. Let me sleep."

"Sorry." Emily crawled into her bed and pulled the covers over her head. "Mmmm, bed."

I looked at the clock. It was 8:30. Lorissa should have been let go by her friends by now. I stood up, brushing myself off as I did so.

"Where you goin'?" Emily peeked over her covers at me.

"Lorissa's. I'll be back later."

"'K. Bye." I closed the door behind me and went in the direction of Lorissa's room. I didn't have to go all that far, because she was coming down the hall towards me.

"Oh, how convenient!" She said as she grabbed my wrist and dragged me down the hallway to – surprise, surprise – my little room that I thought was secret.

"Geez, why does everyone know where my room is?"

"It's so obvious. Now, sit. I have so much to tell you!"

Lorissa then began to spill everything that had happened in the last few months in a matter of 10 minutes. She was talking so fast that I didn't catch all of it – only the parts that she really wanted me to hear. She started talking about all of these places she saw while she was in France, from the Eiffel Tower to the Riviera. She then said that she could speak French now, though not fluently. And then, she got to what I was looking forward to hearing about.

"It was so strange, Krystel, that day. Versailles itself is really close to where we were living, so we decided to go there and look at the palace. When we get to the Hall of Mirrors, grandma froze. I tried to tug her hand along, since there were crowds of people everywhere, and some people were saying not nice things to us for blocking the way. But she just stood there, like a statue. I asked her what was going on, and she just pointed her finger to a woman who was standing very close to the windows opposite the mirrors.

"I looked over, and I didn't see anything that would set her off. Grandma took off, leaving me behind, basically pushing people over, trying to get to this woman. She tapped her on the shoulder. The woman looked at her with a questioning look at first, and then her eyes got huge. They stood there for what seemed like forever, and it was then I realized what craziness had just taken place.

"I then pushed my way through the crowd and stood next to grandma. When she looked at me, she started crying really hard, and grabbed both of us into a group hug. It was a really emotional moment for all three of us."

"I can imagine," I said, running a hand through my hair. "So what happened after that?"

"Well, we went around the back of the palace and found a little café. We all got baguettes and some water, and just sat there, under the yellow umbrella, talking. Mom kept touching my hair, running her hand along my cheek, you know, things like that." Lorissa smiled a little. "It's amazing. I've never known her, you know, but I felt like we just connected. It was crazy."

"When did you get back?"

"The three of us got back to America right after everything cleared up. Like, right after. Mom and I have stayed up every night, just talking. She tends to cry a lot, though, which I totally understand. I cry too. Oh my God, especially when I showed her the letters."

I looked up, knowing full well that my eyes were bugging out a bit. "You showed her those?"

Lorissa nodded. "Yeah, and I told her everything that happened. She didn't really say much; only that she was sorry for the way everything had to turn out between the two…well…the three of us." She paused to take her dad into consideration.

"Did she…did she ask about him?" My voice wavered a bit. I didn't know if Lorissa knew.

"She asked if we had had any contact. I said no. I told her that I had to figure it out on my own. She asked me if I knew what had become of him…" She looked away for a minute, and then looked back at me. "I told her to talk to you about that."

'Shit. She doesn't know.'

"I'm really not an authority on that subject, Lori…my dad would be better for her to talk to."

"Well, she hasn't seen him yet, so she hasn't gotten to talk to him. You know what's funny?" The smile crept back on your face. "She didn't even know your parents got together, or even that you were born."

"Really?"

"Yeah. I guess her and dad left after they graduated, and really didn't have any contact with anyone for quite some time. That's when they got married, and eventually had me, I guess."

I wanted to put Lorissa and Annemarie in bubbles, so they wouldn't find out what became of Snape. I wasn't sure how Lorissa would take it, but I just knew that Annemarie would die – especially since she had been apart from him for so long.

"Crazy," I said, curling up with a pillow on the floor.

"You tired?"

I nodded. "Tim made us rehearse for almost 5 hours today. It was really intense."

"Rehearse for what?"

"Mmmm," I cuddled the pillow to me even closer, kind of imagining it was a certain someone. "I guess we're doing a concert or something the last day of school."

"Cool!" Lorissa stood up, brushing herself off. "That will be exciting to see. I'll make sure everyone's here for that."

"Are you leaving?"

She nodded. "Why are you leaving?"

"Because you're going to sleep, silly head."

My eyelids started to get really heavy. "Mmkay. Good night."

The last thing I remember before falling asleep was Lorissa draping a blanket over me.

**A/N: Yay! Sorry this took so long. College literally RULES my life. But, I had a recent sleepless night, due to inspiration, so I figured I should get it all out while it lasts. And, omg, sorry there's so many plot twists and random things happening. It will all settle down in the end…but I had to get everything in to kind of tie up all the loose ends.**

**The next chapter will contain the most AU thing about the story. I can't help myself. I have to do it. Everyone deserves to be happy, right?**

**Haha, you all can probably guess it by now…but I'm STILL NOT GOING TO TELL YOU!!**

**...How'd you all like the France stuff? Most of that was based off of my own experience. No, I did not meet my long lost mom in the Hall of Mirrors. But, we did wander off after we toured the palace and found a little café behind it, complete with yellow umbrellas….and we all had baguettes and water. Such a great experience.**

**Oh yeah, and, unfortunately, the root canal story is true also. _  
**

**Next chapter will be up soon, I promise. Thanks for the story alerts, reviews, and favorites! Love you guys!! 3**


	16. Chapter 16

**Ch. 16**

_Ring, ring, ring, ring, ring, ring, ring, banana phone! Ring, ring, ring, ring, ring, ring, ring, banana phooone!_

"Mmhellow?" I groggily said into my cell phone.

"Krys? You there?"

"Mmmhmmm, yeah." I rubbed my eyes and looked around. I was still in my little room. I had no idea what time it was.

"Did I wake you up?"

"Yeah, but that's okay." I rolled over on my side, supporting myself on my left elbow. "Who is this, anyways?"

"Honey, it's me, Su!"

"Su?" I sat up. "Is that you?"

She giggled. "Yes it is! Hi honey!"

"Oh my God, I am so glad to hear your voice!" I said, tossing my blanket to the side and walking out of the room. "Are you ok? Is everyone else ok?"

"Our group is fine, just some cuts and bruises." She paused, breathing in and out slowly. "But there were a lot of people that died."

I nodded, making my way towards the bathroom to see if I could at least salvage my hair. "So I've heard. Have there been any funerals?"

"There have been funerals for the students and faculty, of course. But, as for the others, not so much."

"Hey, I'm gonna put you on speaker, is that ok?"

"Yeah, go ahead."

I put the phone down on the sink and pressed the button.

"Why am I on speaker?" Su's voice echoed through the bathroom.

"I'm in the bathroom, and I just woke up, so I need to somewhat fix my hair before people see me and run away because they think it's going to eat them."

She laughed. God, I had missed that sound.

"Hey, there's some other people here with me, if you would want to talk to them as well?"

I brushed out my hair with my fingers. "Yeah, who all is there?"

Suddenly, two girls yelled, "Hi Kryssie!" into the phone. I could tell right away that it was Lavender and Parvati.

"Hey guys!" My day was just getting better and better. "How is everything?"

"We're good," Parvati said, laughing a bit. "How have you been? Are you all right?"

"I'm doing okay," I responded, trying not to scream when I picked out a huge knot. "There have been a lot of crazy things happening here lately."

"We can totally relate. Hey, you," Lavender yelled out of the phone's reach. "Yeah, you. Get over here!"

"What?" A guy responded. I smiled. It was Seamus.

"Seamus," I started, getting giddy, "get your ass on the phone!"

"I hope you know you're on speaker as well," Su said, the smirk on her face visible through her words.

"What? Who is this?"

"Hi Seamus!" I practically yelled in the phone, beaming from ear to ear.

"Krystel? Is that you?"

"Yeah! Oh my God! How are you?"

He let out a very excited sounding yell, and then came back to the phone. "I'm doing well. How are you? Everything all right?"

"Yeah, everything's pretty good. Hey, where are all of you, anyways?"

"We're at Su's right now, just hanging out."

"Gah, I wish I was there!" I threw my hair over one shoulder and walked out of the bathroom towards the lounge. "I've missed all of you so much."

"Trust me, we've missed you too," Parvati said. "We didn't know what we had been missing until you left."

"Aww, you guys are so sweet!" I could feel my face getting red from the embarrassment.

"Terry! Say hi!" Su yelled. I heard a muffled "Hi!" and then a beep.

"Okay, I took you off of speaker. Terry's cooking us all some sort of food. Who knows if it will be edible," she laughed after he shouted a "Hey!" back at her.

"I miss you guys," I said as I walked in and sat down on one of the couches.

"We miss you, too. Hold on a second," I heard her put her phone to her shoulder and walk a little ways, closing a door behind her. "Okay, that's better. Everyone was getting kind of noisy out there."

"That's all right, I didn't mind."

"I did. I want to talk to you about something."

"About what?" I started chipping off some of the polish on my big toe.

"About Harry."

I froze. What? "Okay…what's up?"

"Well, I haven't seen him lately, but word from Hermione is that he's going absolutely crazy not seeing you. Did something happen between the two of you or something? I seem to be completely out of the loop on this. I don't like it."

I giggled. "Yeah, you are totally out of the loop. The basis of it all is that he's in love with me."

I held the phone back as Su let out a girly squeal. "No way!"

"Yeah."

"Aww, how adorable! Why didn't he tell me that the last time I saw him?"

"I don't know."

"I'll have to smack him later. Anyways, I gave him your address in America. You don't mind, do you?"

"Yes," I started, my words dripping with sarcasm, "I totally mind."

"I guess that was a dumb question." She giggled. "Have you heard from him yet?"

"No, not yet."

"Hmm. He seemed like he was going to jump right on it when I gave it to him."

I looked up as I saw someone walk past. Being that it was my wonderful father, I started waving my free arm at him. He saw me and came in the room.

"Who are you talking to?"

"It's Su!" I said with glee.

"Who's in there with you?" Su nosed.

"It's just my dad, don't worry. When was the last time you saw him?"

"Umm…about a week ago. It was the day school got out. We said our goodbyes, and then he asked me about your address as I was about to leave."

"Strange."

"Oh, crap! I have to get off the phone. This is going to be expensive! I'm so sorry."

"Don't worry about it! I'll pay for it, no problem. Tell everyone I love and miss them."

"Okay, love you honey. I hope to see you soon! Bye!" Click.

I turned to my dad almost in the same second that Su hung up on me. "Have I received any letters lately?"

Dad looked puzzled. "No…why? Should you have?"

I felt my heart sink a little. "Erm…no. I was just curious."

Dad smiled, ruffling my hair before he left. I watched him walk down the hall a little ways before I took off after him.

"Are you sure I didn't get a letter?"

"Yes!" He shouted down the hall, not turning around. "I'm sure!"

~*~

"Krystel! Pluck my eyebrows! NOW!"

"Coming!" I said, shuffling to where Emily was frantically looking at her eyebrows. With a flick of my wand, her eyebrows were shapely and perfect.

"Dang, girl!" She looked at my wand, and then back at me. "What did they teach you at that school?"

"All sorts of stuff," I said, shuffling back to my little area. The entire band was in the women's' bathroom (yes, Tim included…), prepping ourselves up before we went on stage. After closing my eyes and breathing in deeply, I started to apply the nasty foundation that I had used in plays and such. It made me look healthy, and not incredibly pale and dead while I was on stage.

"Five minutes!" Someone stuck their head in and yelled. I let out a silent 'shit', grabbed the nearest can of Aquanet, and sprayed my hair all the way around. Slipping into my sparkly silver flip-flops, I ran out of the bathroom and towards the music room to see my full reflection.

Since I hadn't really been on stage since I went to Hogwarts, I knew that I wanted to make sure I looked great for my triumphant return. Earlier that morning, I had selected a flowy violet dress that I had purchased at Old Navy before I left for Hogwarts, but I never got a chance to wear it. It was cut in such a way that it made my curves look absolutely beautiful (normally, my curves are kind of…umm…hard to control, if you get what I mean.). I painted my fingernails and my toe nails black with silver sparkles the night before. My silver peace sign necklace, rhinestone bracelet, and kind-of-curly-kind-of-straight hair with silver glitter in it completed the look.

I smudged my eyeliner a bit on the bottom and applied more lip-gloss to my already crazily glossed lips. Not going to lie, I was getting nervous. It had been a while since I sang in public, and I wasn't even sure I was prepared enough to do it.

"Two minutes!" My breath started to catch. I ran to the drinking fountain to guzzle down some water. I needed to keep my throat and vocal chords lubricated; I didn't want them to dry up before I had to go sing.

"Krys, come on!" Tim grabbed my arm and dragged me out the door towards the field where the stage was set up. The band formed behind the stage, shielded by the curtain. I grabbed my mic stand and set it up in the center of the stage, and then helped get the drums set up. Tim put his guitar around his neck. Emily put her base on. Lema stood poised at the keyboards. Gina held the tambourine like it was a precious little baby. DiJonay, as far as I knew, was standing front row center outside, filming the concert while directing the other kids to film at different angles.

And me? I grabbed onto the microphone with such force that I felt like I was going to break it. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath.

The curtains opened. The drums behind me started playing out the beat to "Move Along" by the All-American Rejects. I opened my eyes and looked out at the crowd. There were people everywhere, all over the field, eyes focused on me. I opened my mouth to sing, and I was no longer Krystel: 17 year old. I was Krystel: rock star.

Each song poured out of us nearly effortlessly. There were very few times where I felt as though a part was off. We blazed through a set that included "Viva La Vida" by Coldplay (with Tim singing), "What Would You Say?" by the Dave Matthews Band, "My Favorite Mistake" by Sheryl Crow, and "A Sort Of Homecoming" by U2. We took a little break after 5 more songs, put on the Cupid Shuffle, and danced to it, as a band. After a short intermission, we rocked out "Into The Night" by Santana, "Twist and Shout" by the Beatles, and "Before He Cheats" by Carrie Underwood – which totally tore my voice up. I expected that, though. Tim took over for the next two songs ("Iris" by the Goo Goo Dolls and "American Pie" by Don McLean…he did all 8 and a half minutes by himself. It nearly brought me to tears) before the rest of the band walked off, leaving Tim and I to do our three talent show songs.

"Okay, guys, these next songs were supposed to be for the talent show," I said in the mic, laughing a little at how strange my speaking voice sounded in the speakers, "but we all know how that turned out. So, we're going to play them here."

I paused. "What song are we playing first?"

Tim shrugged. "Up to you."

I smiled and looked back at the audience. "I want to dedicate this song to a dear friend of mine. This is 'Scarborough Fair', and this is for Harry."

I looked over at Tim and nodded. He nodded back, smiled, and started picking the guitar part for "Scarborough Fair".

"Are you going to Scarborough Fair/Parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme/Remember me to one who lives there/She once was a true love of mine." The words poured out of me like water. Tim and my harmonies were so together that it nearly brought me to tears. The song ended, the audience clapped, and we went right into "Hallelujah". I could feel my voice starting to get tense, so I sang in such a way that allowed me to belt at particular parts, but be incredibly soft at others.

I had my eyes closed throughout "Hallelujah", and, when I opened them, I was almost shocked to see that many people in the crowd were wiping their cheeks. They were crying. I made them cry.

"I hope all of you are crying because it was a good job, and not because I sucked." The audience laughed, many of them shaking their heads no.

"Good." I smiled. "We have one more song for you."

I waited for a second while the crowd chanted "Let's Go Crazy" almost entirely in unison. I let it die down a bit before I chimed back in. "No, sorry, it's not that one."

Everyone groaned.

"Just wait. This year has been crazy; not just for me, but for all of us. This next song was an inspiration to me this year. It gave me the strength to keep going, even when I felt like I was completely alone." Tim rubbed my shoulder, which made me laugh a little.

"If I cry during this one, I apologize ahead of time." I looked out in the crowd to see if I could spot Lorissa. "Also, this is Lorissa Carter's favorite song. I hope you enjoy it, and thanks for sticking around today and not taking off."

Tim strummed a chord and let it ring. I sighed, picturing the first two notes in my head. I wanted it to be perfect.

"Somewhere over the rainbow/Way up high/There's a land that I've heard of/Once in a lullaby…" Tim played the guitar very soft during the song, which was something that I was not used to. When I got to "Someday I'll wish upon a star", he stopped playing entirely. I took a small pause after the line was finished to look at him. He gestured for me to continue, wiping a tear off his cheek with his other hand.

"If happy little bluebirds fly/Beyond the rainbow/Why, oh, why can't I?" The last note wavered in my throat as I tried not to start bawling.

A collection of sniffles, cheers, wails, and continued yellings of "Let's Go Crazy" rang through the air as Tim and I stood up and bowed. We walked back stage, and were met with a group of blubbering band mates.

"Geez guys," Lema said, wiping the tears off her face with the back of her hand, "why did you have to make everyone cry? We're all going to have smeared makeup for the encore now."

Gina sniffled a bit while she fixed a few stray curls.

"Sorry," I said, trying to flatten my hair out a bit, and wiping the gross sweat and makeup off my face. "I guess I'm just that good."

"Psh!" Emily playfully punched me on the shoulder. "You're so vain."

We all walked back on stage, listening. The audience was chanting "Let's Go Crazy!" like none other. It sounded like one half was saying "Let's Go", and the other half was saying "Crazy". Lema looked at me, and I nodded my head, slipping back into rock star mode. She nodded and played the first chord of the song on her keyboard.

The curtains opened. "Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to get through this thing called life."

I have to say, playing that song on that particular day was one of the greatest moments of my life. I was practically in tears by the end of it – just from the sheer awesomeness of it all. Tim ripped into the ending solo and, with a tear rolling down my cheek; I led every student at Ashberry in the final words of the song.

"Take me away!"

Everyone was clapping and cheering. We all took a bow, and then another bow, and walked back stage, engulfing each other in a huge hug, never wanting to let go.

~*~

Graduation was later that afternoon. All of the 7th years walked across the stage with dignity and pride, accepting our official diplomas with one hand, and shaking Sarto's cold, clammy hand with the other. But no one else was a hysterical wreck on stage. No. That role fell completely to me.

I was graduating from the school that I had spent most of my life attending, sure. That might be an emotional moment for anyone. But that wasn't why I was a wreck. When I stepped on that stage, I realized something. That day marked the year anniversary, if you will, of the last time I saw Harry. And, even though I knew he was alive and well across the ocean, it didn't help the fact that three hundred and sixty five days had passed since I left the school, my friends, England, and Harry behind.

I shook Sarto's hand very limply. She looked at me with concern. I half smiled. That seemed to satisfy her, because she smiled, nodded, and let go of my hand. I shuffled off the stage as quickly as I could. All I wanted to do was go and sulk in a corner, like a pathetic little kid who didn't want to go out and play with the other kids.

After the ceremony, I wove my way through the crowds of people and walked towards the exit to the school. I hesitated when I heard the rain on the roof, but it didn't stop me. I threw my heels and diploma up against the wall and darted out the doors, straight into the rain.

The first raindrop hit my skin. It was a rather cold rain, but I didn't care. I felt…well, reader, I felt free. I felt free for the first time in an entire year. Every worry, every emotion…everything just faded away. My body felt like it was controlled by the world around me. My mind flew out of my head and went straight up into the clouds.

This is going to sound really strange, but, during that moment, I thought I had reached enlightenment.

Told you it sounded strange. Heh.

I just felt that I knew all of the answers. I felt like I was one with the universe. I started to spin around, not even aware of the person running towards me until they nearly ran into me.

"Hey!"

Gravity and my brain came rushing back all too quickly, and I ended up falling over rather ungracefully.

"Are you all right?" The person held out their hand to me, obviously wanting to help me up. I laughed like a crazy person, nodding while I did so.

"Yeah, I'm all right," I stood up and looked up at the sky, watching the raindrops dive-bomb my face. "I just reached enlightenment for a second, that's all."

"Right. Umm, well, I was wondering if you could help me find someone."

I looked back at eye level, eyes a little squinted, trying to see whom this person was. All I could see, really, was a guy in a navy blue hoodie with the hood pulled up, standing in front of me.

"Uhh…sure," I said, suddenly conscious of my jersey dress clinging to me in all the wrong places. "Umm, pretty much everyone is probably inside," I pointed towards the doors, holding my other arm around my waist.

"She's not in there," he said. I noticed as I was squinting that he took off his glasses and put them in his pants pocket.

The lenses were round.

"I've looked everywhere, but I can't seem to find…her…are you sure you're all right?" My eyes were still focused on his pocket. I only knew of two people who wore those dumb round glasses – John Lennon and…

"Harry?" I felt my voice catch in my throat. He inched closer to me and tipped my chin up. Our eyes met, and I started to tremble.

I didn't know how he got there. I didn't know why he was there. I didn't even know if he was a figment of my imagination, a leftover from my enlightenment trip, or what it was. It wasn't until he pressed his lips to mine that I realized that he was real.

~*~

Harry and I wandered into the school, both equally wet and dazed. I wrung out my hair as we walked through the halls, leaving a huge trail of water drops on the carpet. I went into my room to grab some dry clothes for myself, and then walked backwards back into the hallway.

"What?" Harry had stopped and was looking down at the carpet. "What's up?"

He looked up at me and just started laughing.

"What?" I said in between little giggles of my own.

"They're going to know it was you. There's a trail to your door."

I shrugged. "I just graduated a few hours ago. They can't do anything about it." I pointed at him, trying to put on my best 'come hither' eyes. "You stay here. I'll be right out." I rushed in, put on a random t-shirt and jeans, grabbed a hair band, and walked back out. He was still standing there, looking eagerly at the doorway, as if he never wanted to lose sight of me.

I started to walk over to him to give him the biggest hug in the history of mankind, but then I realized something.

He was still dripping wet. There was a huge circular puddle forming around his feet.

"Shit." I grabbed his hand and started walking. "Come with me."

"Where are we going?"

"We're getting you clothes."

~*~

Harry and I stood in front of Tim's doorframe – him standing next to me, playing with my gradually curling hair, and me, knocking repetitively on the door.

"Whaaaaaaaaaaaaht?!" Tim opened the door, clearly annoyed. His attitude didn't change when he figured out it was me; in fact, he looked even more annoyed when he figured out it was me.

"Hey, Tim. Are we…interrupting something?" Not only was he incredibly annoyed, but also his hair was messed up, his face was red, and he was panting. I tried to peek through his arm to see if anyone was in the room with him, but he just leaned up against the frame.

"What do you want, Krys?"

"Sorry for uhh…whatever…" I started to giggle. He let out a little growl, but a smile was playing on his lips. "Listen, I need some of your clothes."

He looked incredibly confused. "What do _you_ need them for?"

"No, Tim, they're not for me," I said, giving him a 'duh' look, "they're for him." I pointed to Harry beside me, whose hand I finally swatted away from my hair. After exchanging a couple of silly glances, I looked back at Tim…who was pointing a finger at Harry with his lower jaw lying on the floor.

"Is…is that…" Tim's eyes got huge. "How'd he…what…"

I put a finger to his lips. "Shh. I'll explain later. Just get me some clothes for him, yeah? He's starting to get cold."

"…Right…" He went back inside, not closing the door. I took a few steps in and looked around. Lo and behold, there was someone else in the room. It was Dylan. He sheepishly waved a hello to me, and then proceeded to cover himself up more with Tim's comforter.

"Tim…"

"Wha- Jesus, Krys! Why are you in here?"

"Cuz you left the door open." He was holding a bundle of clothes in his hands, looking down at it, trying to avoid making eye contact with me. "You have some explaining to do, Timothy Daniel."

"Yeah, well, I'll explain later." He dumped the clothes in my hands, and then pointed a finger right between my eyes. "You do too, you know."

"Not as much as you do!" I said as I walked out the door, tossing the clothes into Harry's arms. "Come on, let's get you nice and warm."

~*~

Tim always had a particular scent. I had known him since I was a little kid, and it had never changed. Sometimes, when we would go out on our adventures (or misadventures, whichever way you would want to look at them), he would let me borrow a hoodie or an old t-shirt if I didn't want to get my clothes dirty. And, with every shirt he gave me, the smell of him would become even more embedded in my brain.

I had never even taken smells into consideration until I found myself in my room, cuddling into Harry's shoulder blade underneath my bed covers. Since Harry was wearing one of Tim's shirts, I figured that I would be engulfed in Timness. But that wasn't the case. Harry's smell drilled itself into my brain within the first minute of our cuddle fest.

"So tell me, Harry," I started, moving so I could look into his eyes, "how did you ever convince my dad to let you get away with this?"

He smiled, his green eyes glittering. "Your dad really likes me, is all."

"How do you know?"

"I'll explain everything later," he said, snuggling as close as was possible to me, "I'm enjoying this too much to talk."

"Me too." I could feel him smile against my shoulder. "Good night, Harry."

"Good night, my love."

The next thing I knew, my door was being flung open, and the voice of an angry mother rang through the air.

"KRYSTEL JANELLE KOROMASHI, WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?!?"

Harry shot straight up, petrified. I, on the other hand, stretched, rubbed my eyes, and ran a hand through my hair. "Jesus, mom, don't you ever knock?"

"NOT WHEN THERE'S A BOY IN MY SEVENTEEN YEAR OLD DAUGHTER'S ROOM!" She grabbed my arm and yanked me out of the bed. "BEN! GET YOUR ASS DOWN HERE!"

"Coming, coming," I heard dad quickly rush up the stairs. "What, Grace?" He popped his head in, surveyed the scene, and with a smirk, nodded at Harry. "Morning."

"Morning, Mr. Koromashi." I heard Harry gulp behind me.

Then the fighting commenced. For a reason unknown to me, when my parents fought, like REALLY fought, they would start yelling at each other in Japanese. I had only heard this occur a few times, and it was normally only from my mom's end, but it always fascinated me. Neither of them had ever bothered to teach me any, which always bugged me. It seemed like they wanted to have some way for them to communicate without me knowing what they were saying.

But, when I heard the English phrase 'statutory rape' thrown in the mix, I had to say something. "Wait, wait, wait. What?"

Mom pointed her finger in Harry's face, squinting her eyes so much that I was amazed she could even see. "My daughter is seventeen years old. I can have you thrown in jail."

Harry instinctively put his hands up, slowly backing up. She kept moving, her finger threatening to poke out his eye.

"Mom, nothing happened," I said, going over and trying to pull her back, away from Harry. He looked absolutely terrified. "We just came home and went to sleep. That's all."

She turned around, still squinting. "I don't believe you."

"What, do you want me to go to the doctor and have HIM prove it to you?"

"That sounds like a good plan."

Dad and I said, "Mom!" and "Grace!" at the same time. Dad walked over to mom, pushing some space between us. "Don't you think that's a little much? Besides, you remember what we were like when we were seventeen, don't you?"

"GOD, DAD! TMI! TMI!" I put my hands over my eyes, trying to block out the mental images.

"Anyways, I invited Harry to stay for a while, since the two of them hadn't seen each other since Krys came back. Harry's a good kid; he won't do anything, right, Harry?"

He nodded, still petrified in the corner.

There was a slight pause. Mom looked back at Harry and pointed again. "I'm going to keep my eye on you. If I find anything happens, I will have you put in jail." As she left, she shook her head, muttering something to herself in Japanese (of course).

Dad winked at me, nodded at Harry, and then walked out, shutting the door behind him. As soon as it closed, Harry was by my side. He had also started breathing again.

"Umm…what…what just happened?"

"You remember how you said that you were going to explain things to me today?"

"Yeah…"

"Well," I turned around to look at him. "I have some things to explain to you, as well."

~*~

Harry and I sat outside on the back porch swing for hours that day, just talking about the past year. He told me everything about what he, Ron, and Hermione had done while they were out of school, in excruciating detail. I was amazed at the capacity he had for remembering even the minutest details. I sat and listened in awe as he kept going and going. When he started talking about Snape, and what had happened to him, I felt somewhat relieved. Snape had, apparently, given Harry a large grouping of his memories before he died, of which I figured contained at least some images of Annemarie and possibly even Lorissa. I really hadn't wanted to explain all of that to him, since I didn't even know all of the answers.

When he was finished, he gave me a "your turn" look, and gestured for me to talk with his hand. I took a deep breath, and started spouting off the events of my life.

Basically, I started with the beginning. I talked about my parents, how they had met, and how they split up. I talked about what growing up with my mom was like, and how she finally snapped and went to the hospital – which caused me to have to live with my dad, and, therefore, go to Hogwarts. I then started talking about why I had to leave so quickly, and why my dad was staying at the house (he was confused by it at first, but then seemed to understand). I then mentioned Annemarie coming back, and Lorissa and I figuring out whom her parents were, when he put up his hands and stopped me.

"Wait, what?"

"Oh, shit…" I looked down at my hands. I did not want to explain this to him. I really didn't want to explain it to anyone, since it was so…complicated. "You mean Snape didn't show you any of that?"

He stared back at me, eyes wide.

"I take that as a no." I sighed, cracking my knuckles. "All right, sit back. This is one hell of a complicated story." I knew I didn't do it justice – especially since there were so many holes in the story that we were missing – but I did the best I could. Harry seemed to follow, but he looked incredibly confused by it all.

"He had a family…and yet…he still…" Harry shook his head. I watched his hair move across the top of his head. It had gotten very long. "I don't get it."

"I don't either, Harry."

He suddenly stood up, eyebrows all scrunched together. "What's up?"

"Is Annemarie here?"

I nodded. "Yeah, she's here."

"I'm going to go talk to her." He bolted into the house. I fell close behind, practically stepping on his heels, pulling on his arm, trying to get him to stop.

"I don't think that's a good idea, Harry! She still doesn't know!"

"I do know."

We both stopped and turned towards the voice. Annemarie was sitting at the kitchen table, as if she was waiting for us to come inside. "I've known for quite some time." She gestured to the chair in front of her. "Harry, have a seat. I feel I have much to discuss with you."

Harry obediently sunk in the chair, leaving me standing. Annemarie nodded towards the chair at the right end of the table, signaling that I could stay and listen. I quickly sat down in the chair. Harry and I glanced at each other for a few seconds, and then looked at Annemarie, who was sipping out of a coffee mug that said, "I got out of bed, what more do you want?"

"Krystel here has so wonderfully taken the burden off of me of explaining the whole story to you, but there are still quite a few pieces missing. And, to a large extent, those pieces involve you…so you deserve to know.

"I knew your mother through Krystel's dad. Ben and I had been friends since our first year, but, unlike myself, he was really good at making friends in every clique. Ben and Remus were rather good friends, which was how he met Lily. That was also how he knew Severus…though I had no idea who Severus was until my 6th year.

"Stacie, my best friend at Hogwarts, and I were sitting in the library one night, bored out of our minds, trying to figure out something to do. We somehow got on the topic of which Beatle had the best solo work, John Lennon or Paul McCartney. I said John, she said Paul. We argued back and forth until we mutually decided to ask for a third opinion. I asked the kid across the table what he thought, and he responded by saying that while John and Paul both made fine music, George Harrison was the true talent behind the Beatles, and that his solo work was 'the stuff that could make the world a better, more enjoyable place'." Annemarie sighed, closing her eyes for a second, a slight smile tugging at her lips.

"That, you probably realized, was Severus. Ben and I were in the courtyard the next day, and I asked him if he knew his name. Ben told me, and then spilled on what had happened the previous year with your mother."

"What had happened?" Harry asked.

She paused. "Well…Severus was with a group of his asshole 'friends' – sorry for cursing. Anyways, your mom came up to say hello, and he…well…he called her something terrible."

I got the drift. It wasn't hard, in the wizarding world, at least, to figure out what that name could be.

"I, of course, was instantly appalled. I couldn't believe that anyone would say that, especially to Lily, who seemed like the sweetest girl at the school." I saw Harry smile sadly. I reached over and squeezed his hand under the table. "So, I confronted him about it."

"He wanted nothing to do with me. I poked and prodded for a few months, and then he showed me his Mark in his irritation." Annemarie stopped and took a sip of her coffee. Harry and I both just sat there, waiting for her to continue.

"I won't lie to you both, I was scared. I was very scared. I didn't see him at all for nearly a month. We went to America that year for holiday, and so I told Grace all about what happened. She thought that I should try and talk to him. 'Maybe he just needs a friend,' she told me." She chuckled to herself. "I thought about it, but decided to just leave him alone and have nothing else to do with him."

"But then, when I got back, I found him in the Astronomy Tower, by himself. He looked so sad and so…so alone. My heart melted and I went over to him."

"So…is that how the two of you…you know…got together?"

Annemarie nodded. "Yeah. It took quite some time, but we eventually became friends. Stacie constantly teased me about 'liking the creepy boy', and I would just laugh along with her…but it was true. I did like him.

"In about April of our 6th year, Lily pulled me aside and told me to stay away from Severus. She told me what he said. I told her I understood, but that I was going to be just fine." Noticing the curious look on Harry's face, she continued, her voice a little softer. "Harry, believe me, I loved your mom. I still do. I always will. She was such a good person, and she was just warning me of what I already knew I was getting into. I appreciated it, but I was 16, and I didn't quite have my head on straight."

Harry nodded, looking down at his hands. I squeezed them again for some reassurance.

"Anyways, back to what I was saying. Severus and I became very close towards the end of the year – so close, in fact, that he entrusted me with his two secrets: that he was a half-blooded wizard, and that he was in love with Lily.

"At that point, I didn't quite understand what was going on in my head, and I didn't realize that I actually had feelings for him. I was devastated, though, and I ran back to my room and sobbed.

"That's about where the letters you and Lorissa found pick up," Annemarie gestured towards me. "Severus and I eventually ended up together. We were completely in love. And what people don't know about him is that he is actually a very kind and loving person when he's around someone he truly cares about. He's very protective of the ones he loves, and he will do anything in order to keep them safe. That's why, as we grew closer, we made the decision to run away together.

"Severus knew that it would be incredibly dangerous, and that there would be dire consequences for himself if he were found, but he didn't want that life. He joined the Death Eaters after he lost Lily's friendship, when he thought he had nothing to live for." She smiled to herself. "I was something for him to live for. He wanted to have some sort of normalcy, even if it was for a short period of time.

"So, we took off for Versailles and made our home in a tiny house outside of a small café. We were married in a private ceremony nearly a year later, and Lorissa came a few years after that. We were happy, the three of us. The perfect little family. The world was turning dark and evil all around us, but we didn't care. Nothing mattered but us.

"Then it happened. Voldemort discovered where Severus was, but, luckily, did not find Lorissa or myself. As a way to not be killed, Severus revealed the prophecy, which, unbeknownst to him, pointed in your direction." She nodded to Harry. "After he found out, he went to Dumbledore and pleaded with him to help him. Dumbledore was not receptive at first, but, after he explained the situation with Lily, and about Lorissa and myself, he accepted Severus' offer to be a double agent.

"Severus apparated back to the house in a complete panic. I had never seen him like that before. He told me everything that had transpired, and then started into his plan. He and I were going to take Lorissa to my mom's house, and then I was to pack my things and go into hiding. He was going to take a teaching job at Hogwarts, telling Voldemort that he was spying for him, when he was really working for Dumbledore. He used his skills in Occlumency and Legillimency to block out any memory of Lorissa or myself. And, even in his death, he followed through."

She sipped her coffee. It had to have been cold by now, but she didn't seem to notice. "Harry, he never wanted any of what happened to you to transpire. Neither did I. I sent your parents a card when you were born. We were young. We thought we had found the way to get out." She sighed. "We were wrong."

"How did you find out about his death?" I piped in, slightly bothered by the fact that she didn't seem phased by it.

"The Daily Prophet."

"You seem very…"

"Unemotional?"

I nodded. "Yeah. About the whole situation."

"I'm not entirely apathetic about it. I'm heart-broken that my daughter and I will probably never have the relationship that I have with my own mom. I've been separated from my family for nearly 20 years, and the majority of the time was unwillingly. I didn't know that Grace and Ben were married, or that you were even born. I kept close tabs on Severus, of course, but I honestly wonder how often he thought of his own daughter or me. I'm really hurt by the notion that he didn't ever try to contact Lorissa." She sighed. "I'm sure it was his way of protecting her, but it's very hard for a girl to grow up without knowing her father. I would know.

"A part of me will always ache for Severus, just as a part of him always ached for Lily, but I don't feel like I should mourn all that much. My responsibility now is to rebuild my familial connections, and to form new ones. I hope you both understand what I'm saying?"

"Kind of," I said. Harry nodded.

"Hi everyone," Lorissa said, sheepishly walking into the kitchen. She dug a Pop Tart out of the cabinet and sat down next to Annemarie. "Don't worry, I heard it all. No need to be awkward around me."

"We weren't being awkward."

She shrugged, munching on her Pop Tart. "You were going to be because you thought I didn't know all of that, but I do. I'm cool with it." She took a drink of milk.

"You are?" Annemarie asked, a look of concern on her face. I smiled at the motherly instinct of it all.

Lorissa nodded. "He died protecting you and me. He didn't even let Harry see the memories he had of us. I feel like he did everything he thought was humanly possible to keep me safe, and, obviously, it worked."

"You won't have to be worried anymore," Harry chimed in. "As long as I live, I will make sure of that."

I laid my head on his shoulder. "It better be a long time."

He chuckled. "Oh, it will be. I've made it this far, haven't I?" He kissed my forehead.

"Yes, you have. I'm glad."

"Me, too."

**A/N: Haha! Kind of crappy end to the story, but whatever. Now you know (nearly) everything! An epilogue is soon to come (and I promise it will be better than the Deathly Hallows one…V_V), and possibly a prequel, if you all would be interested in knowing the intricacies of Annemarie and Snape's relationship. **

**Plus, I just kind of want to write it. ^_^**

**Read and Review! Love you all!!!**


	17. Epilogue

**A/N: All right, so I'm on the train headed back to Indiana from Chicago (I went and saw U2 this weekend – AMAZING!), and, with one hour and nineteen minutes of battery life, I think I'm going to write up the epilogue.**

**I should be writing a paper. Feel special that this means more than my paper. ^_^**

**On with the epilogue!**

**(BTW, thanks for sticking with me. I know that this has been an epic journey, not only for you, but for me as well…it's taken a long time for me to actually get this story down in written form, and I am incredibly proud of it – even if it is slightly Mary-Sue at times. ^_^ I couldn't have done it without the wonderful reviews from all of you! I really appreciate it.**

**Love,**

**Krystel/Faded Galaxia)**

**Disclaimer: I really don't own much of anything. I'm not even sure I own my own characters anymore. I feel like they're everyone's now – for the entire world to read about.**

**Love you, J.K. Thanks for inspiring me to write. 3**

**Epilogue**

"_I have now been married ten years. I know what it is to live entirely for and with what I love best on earth. I hold myself supremely blest-blest beyond what language can express; because I am my husband's life as fully is he is mine. No woman was ever nearer to her mate than I am: ever more absolutely bone of his bone and flesh of his flesh. I know no weariness of my Edward's society: he knows none of mine, any more than we each do of the pulsation of the heart that beats in our separate bosoms; consequently, we are ever together. To be together is for us to be at once as free as in solitude, as gay as in company. We talk, I believe, all day long: to talk to each other is but a more animated and an audible thinking. All my confidence is bestowed on him, all his confidence is devoted to me; we are precisely suited in character-perfect concord is the result."_

Annemarie held the tattered copy of _Jane Eyre_ close to her chest, closing her eyes. "That was his favorite passage. Severus always doodled in his books, but the only thing he did in this one was underline that passage." She sighed. "He told me once that it made him think of me…" She wiped a forming tear from her eye, looking around at the dilapidated house.

"Are you sure you can do this?" Lorissa asked, moving closer to her mom. Annemarie nodded, wiping more tears from her cheek. They grabbed hands and walked into another room, leaving me in the library by myself.

It had been nearly 4 months since Voldemort had been killed. Harry had traveled back to England to both visit Ron and Hermione, and to figure out whether or not he wanted to stay in England, or if he wanted a new adventure in America. I put in my two cents by saying that it was up to him, but I was secretly hoping that he would decide to come to America. As much as I loved England, I was an American girl, through and through, and I felt like it would have been incredibly hard for me to make the transition without being constantly surrounded by students.

Or, maybe I was just being paranoid. Whatever.

Dad went back to England as well, per request from the Ministry. Mom continued her adjusting to normal life, and was beginning to consider going out and finding a job. Grandma and Aunt Michelle ran the house as if nothing out of the ordinary had occurred just a few months before, but, every once in a while, I would catch Aunt Michelle staring at Annemarie with tears in her eyes and a big smile on her face. And then she'd catch me looking at her, and quickly look away, while I snickered.

Annemarie and Lorissa got along splendidly. Every day they seemed to grow closer and closer. I had never seen anything like it; the way they just clicked. It was awesome to watch. Within a month, they had come up with inside jokes. They laughed together, cried together, and spoke French together (of which I was INCREDIBLY jealous). Lorissa rarely called her 'mom', but Annemarie didn't seem to mind. I think she understood that it was a strange thing for her to deal with; it was strange for Annemarie as well.

About 3 months after everything had happened, I walked into the kitchen to find Annemarie staring at a small picture on the kitchen table. It was a wrinkled and tattered photo taken with a magical camera, featuring a seemingly happy little family.

"I have to go look through his things," she said to my surprise.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to-"

She turned around and half smiled through her tears. "I want you and Lorissa to come with me."

"Uhh….what?"

"I still cannot believe I'm here," I said to myself as I piled a bunch more books in a cardboard box. I couldn't even imagine someone living in this…shack was too good of a word for it. The paint was chipping, the floors were breaking, and the whole place smelled of mold and mothballs.

Grooooossssssssssssssssss.

I put my ear buds in, hoping that some music would distract me from the nausea that was building up in my stomach. The sounds of "Destiny" by Zero 7 floated through my brain, and I was instantly calm. I tossed a couple of newer-looking books into the box, being careful that they didn't mess up any of the older, tattered ones (since Annemarie would have had a COW).

I filled up about 4 boxes full of books. I never thought that Snape was such a reader. I mean, sure, he was a teacher, so he probably read…but dang. That was a lot of books.

Climbing up on a stepstool I had borrowed from Emily for the task, I attempted to pile the last 6 books on top of each other.

Epic fail.

"Shit!" I said as they crashed to the floor. I jumped off the stepstool and grabbed them all, hoping that no one had heard it.

They didn't hear it, but something did. It let out a loud groan, and caused the creepy-looking Bates Motel-esque chair to creak.

"He-hello?" I said, scared out of my mind. I slowly rose up, holding a hardback edition of _War And Peace_ in my hand for potential weapon use. The floorboards creaked under my weight as I walked over to the chair, but the thing didn't make any more noise.

Taking a deep breath, I slowly peeked around the back of the chair. All I could see was a black mass. "Hello?"

"Are you here to kill me?" The mass spoke in a raspy whisper. I felt my eyes get huge as the question sunk in.

"No…"

"That's unfortunate." The mass sighed and moved, revealing a sliver of grayish-blue skin under a sheet of black hair. Their eyes were merely slits, but I could see the eye color.

"P…Professor Snape?"

**A/N: HAHA! Yessssssss. I told you the epilogue would be much better than the one in Deathly Hallows! And it's a freaking cliffhanger!**

**AAAAAAANNNNNDDDDD if you want to know more about the story of Annemarie and Snape, check out my PREQUEL, Almost Lover! It's complete, so enjoy!**

**Thanks for reading! Go ahead and review...reviews make my life happy. ^_^  
**


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